Spirit and Soul
by DarqueDeath4444
Summary: Weakness was a sin. She grew up in Kiri and was trained to be ninja by her father since the loss of her mother at age three. Emotion was a sin. Something that would betray her at the moment of need. She moved to Konoha and enrolled into the Academy. Attachment was a sin. That was the life of a shinobi. Weakness is a Sin. Sakura x Multi (For now)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi people! New story here!**

**For this one, we're going to try out the longer chapter, slower updates thingy. Leave us a review if you want us to continue!**

_**Chapter ONE**_

Only a few people had been invited. Her mother had never liked crowds. Sakura stood next to her father, tightly holding onto his hand. She was still merely three, and already, she had lost her mother to the cruel natures of a shinobi's life. Sakura along with her father, had suddenly been called to the hospital, to find that her mother had been gravely injured during her latest mission. Really, it wasn't a rare thing in Kiri.

She wasn't going to live. Sakura had desperately clung onto her mother, as if holding her would keep her alive a little longer. Her mother had weakly patted her head, murmuring soothing words into her daughter's ear.

Finally, her father had asked for some time alone with her mother. Sakura wordlessly nodded and left the room, her mind in too much turmoil to actually register her body's movement as she mindlessly followed her father's request.

* * *

Only the closest of the closest people had been invited to the funeral. Though they rarely gathered, her whole family was there. They filled up most of the seats. A few of her mother's childhood friends came as well.

Sakura glanced between her family members. Her family was very small. Every single one was either a ninja, or was training to be one.

It had been then, where she had vowed to become strong. She could feel tears pooling at the edge of her eyes. She didn't have to glance at her father to know that though he was a grieving as much she was, he wasn't crying.

She wanted to become like him, strong with a control over her emotions.

Emotion was a sin. Something that would betray her at the moment of need, break her at the time where she needed to be at her strongest. Something that would give her fake hope, only for the truth to be thrust in her face when she lost the one she had been emotional about.

Attachment was a sin.

That was the life of a shinobi. Safety was never guaranteed.

A voice at the back of her head told her that there was another path, to use emotion to fuel her power. She ignored it. She didn't want to take the risk.

Weakness was a sin.

* * *

Weakness is a sin.

* * *

A few months after the death of her mother, her father began to take her training more seriously. Since she was still a child, her chakra coils were not fully developed yet, but that didn't stop either of them as her father focused on improving her Taijutsu. Her speed, stamina and strength.

Sakura had only seen her whole family gather once, and that was during her mother's wedding. Her family was spread out throughout the hidden villages.

Sakura had been living in Kiri with her father and her mother. Her father's parents had both passed away ages ago. Her mother had moved to Kiri from Konoha, which Sakura couldn't understand. Was _love_ that powerful? Powerful enough to tear you away from your village? Not that Sakura didn't like Kiri. Sure, it was cruel and all, but she believed that it was something that helped one get stronger.

Her father's older sister, Mai, lived with her husband, Shinji, and were the parents of six year old Aiko and four year old Honoka. They lived in Kumo. If memory served right, Aiko should have joined the academy just this year.

Rinto was her father's younger brother. He and Yukari lived in Suna with their four year old son, Yukine.

Her mother had younger twin brothers. Akito was still single, though a lot of females seemed interested in dating him. Nagisa and his wife, Mirai's son, seven year old Yuuto, was in his second year at the academy while Kuuga, had just celebrated his fifth birthday. Both Akito and Nagi's family lived in Konoha.

Though they had only met during her mother's funeral, Kuuga was by far, Sakura's favorite. They had the same perfectionist heart, and both had that twisted sense of humor that freaked out those around them.

At the age of three, Sakura would run lap after lap around their private training grounds-dangerous missions had their perks-, wearing weights that had dragged her to the ground on the first go. 'If you are fast while wearing the weights, you take them off and you'll become even faster.' Her father had said.

To Sakura, that was enough of a reason to keep training. Her choice of weapon was a set of tonfas, with chains that could be activated with chakra. Since she couldn't channel her chakra through the weapon, her father had gotten her a normal set of tonfas for her to practice with. Her father had promised to get her a proper set of chakra channeling tonfas once she could properly fight with them.

* * *

Her chakra coils had mostly developed by the time she was four, much to the surprise of her father. The moment her had found out, he began training her with Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, thus finding out about her perfect chakra control. She easily passed through the tree climbing exercise, and began learning the more complex stuff that her father began to teach her.

Her father was getting called away for missions more and more. He would leave her with scrolls with techniques on them, which he expected her to have learnt by the time he had come back. Sakura was reading a scroll of Medical chakra, something her father had given her after he had found out about her chakra control.

She had heard recently that a Jounin had killed one of the Genin on his team to teach the other two 'something valuable in life'. Apparently, one of the Genin had been her neighbor, and she could hear crying even from her living room.

Sakura wondered if watching your teammate die was something so horrifying. If they hadn't been attached, they wouldn't have been so affected. Someone who couldn't deal with a single death shouldn't bother becoming a ninja.

Weakness is a sin.

* * *

People would usually come to watch Sakura as she trained. She was somewhat of a known genius, and people respected her. She was only four, but she was rumored to be able to win a fight against a Genin. But behind everything, she was feared. Feared as the Haruno's newest killing machine.

* * *

Her father had decided to move to the Hidden Village of the Leaf.

Their family wasn't really loyal to any village. They just worked with Kiri because that was where they lived. Sakura often wonder about what would happen if Kiri and another village started a war. Would they have to fight their own family?

Their new destination was Konoha, because her mother's family had welcomed them. Her father had already exchanged letters with the Third Hokage and had gotten permission. They had been warned that the Elders had seemed more than enthusiastic to the request, but her father had shrugged it off.

* * *

Even in Konoha, four year old Sakura continued to train.

The Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen had welcomed them into Konoha and even with Sakura's high standards of everything, she though that they had managed to settle in pretty well. On the first day, she had spent the whole day exploring the village. Her memory was seconds to her chakra control.

While her father was sent to missions, she would stay with Nagisa, Mirai, Yuuto and Kuuga. Yuuto would help train her and Kuuga in one of the training grounds. Sakura was slowly but surely becoming well known around the village for her speed and skills.

Some people didn't even seem to know her gender. However, she was polite, kind and gentle, which made the adults of the civilian side adore her. Interaction was fine, as long as she didn't get too attached.

Even after that, she spent her days studying and training.

* * *

Sakura was woken early in the morning by a knock. She swiftly glanced out the window to see that the sky was still black, with the edge of the sun just slightly appearing. When she reached the door, she was greeted by a messenger, who glanced at her in pity and held out a package. "Give this to you." He said. "Those were the last words he said."

Sakura knew exactly what he meant. The messenger cringed, as if he was worried the girl would burst out in tears. Sakura closed her eyes and counted to ten, then reopened them. "Thank you." She murmured, and nodded respectfully before she closed the door.

* * *

Inside the package were two scrolls. Both seemed to be summoning scrolls. Sakura knew the first one was for weapons but she had no idea what the other did.

She unrolled the first and summoned its content. A black set of tonfas appeared, and Sakura stared at them before she finally picked them up. She pushed chakra into it and and nearly dropped them. Chains with spikes at their tips sprouted from the base of the tonfas. A single spike appeared at the top, one on each. Small blades slid out from the sides.

Sakura withdrew her chakra and they turned back into ordinary looking tonfas. Sakura experimented by inserting her chakra section by section. Sure enough, she could activate the special functions one by one.

She resealed the tonfas back into the scroll and picked up the other. She unrolled it and noted that it looked like a summoning scroll. She was glancing over it when she noticed the symbol. The circle surrounded by blue flames. The Haruno symbol of the soul.

_Her father would sometime pull Sakura out of training to tell her about the Haruno clan's secret. How Haruno family members could form spirits at the moment of their death. He showed her the Haruno soul symbol and showed them his scroll. "This is mine. When my father passed away, he gave it to me." He said. "I haven't tried summoning it yet." He admitted. _

_"Did mother leave one of those?" Sakura asked._

_Her father shook his head. "Your mother doesn't have Haruno blood."_

_"Why are you telling me this?" Sakura had asked._

_He father hadn't replied._

Sakura knew exactly what this scroll was.

* * *

**So, how was that? Should we continue?**

**Also, should the Uchiha Massacre occur and should Naruto's parents be alive?**

**Read and Review!**

* * *

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Naruto: Never Understood

Fairy Tail: Where Darkness led to the right path

Shigneki no kyojin: The difference of a few minutes

A Certain Magical Index: Always two sides to a story


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter TWO**_

Sakura finally decided that she understood why her father hadn't summoned the soul spirit. Well, she didn't, but she didn't want to either.

After her father's death, Sakura stayed at their house. Once in a while, Nagisa, Akito, or Mirai would come check on her. She would still hangout with Yuuto and Kuuga. However, everyone close enough to her noticed her changes. She grew more and more distant.

She did not allow herself to cry. Her mother's family were known to be able to hold back emotion better than others. That was thanks to their Inners, something like a second presence in their minds. Somehow, Sakura had managed to push away the inner voice that seemed to drive the others in her family crazy.

* * *

One day, she had been walking around the village, not a clear destination in mind, when she had head shouting. She had turned around the corner to see a man yelling at a Blonde boy clad in an orange jumpsuit. He looked no older than she was, and for the first time ever since she could remember, she felt an emotion which her father had once told her was curiosity.

She carefully made her way towards the yelling pair. The boy sat on the floor, glaring defiantly at the man who had thrown him out of his ninja clothing store.

The man was in mid-sentence when Sakura appeared behind Naruto. The man instantly closed his mouth. After all, no one, not even the civilians had not heard of the pink haired girl.

The man began to look nervous as the girl just stared at him. Finally, he quickly bowed, and darted back into his store.

The boy, still unaware of what had happened, turned around and came face to face with Sakura, who had crouched down behind him.

"Hello." Sakura murmured. "Who are you?"

_Those words were the beginning of a journey neither had ever experienced. They were polar opposites and yet, at the same time, understood the pain of the other._

* * *

Now, Uzumaki Naruto was shocked. No one had ever spoken to him willingly, apart from the ANBU that tailed him under the Hokage's orders.

"I-I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He was so surprised that he had forgotten his trademark ending.

"Naruto." The girl repeated. "I'm Sakura."

"Sa-Sakura-chan." Naruto stammered, then quickly raised his hands when she glanced up at him. "I-I mean, can I call you that?"

Sakura blinked, and nodded.

"Why did that man chase you out?" Sakura asked.

Naruto jumped to his feet. "Dunno." He said. He placed his hand son the back of his head. "Most people do."

Sakura blinked, and stood up as well. "Do you want to go in?" She asked.

Naruto turned to her. "Huh?" He asked.

Sakura pointed to the store he had been kicked out of. "Do you want to go in?"

Naruto hesitantly nodded. "But I'll be kicked out again."

Sakura turned to him. "Someone told me that you shouldn't let anything or anyone get in the way of what you want." She said.

Naruto's face morphed into a grin. "Okay!" He announced, and made his way back into the store, Sakura behind him.

* * *

The man had glared at him upon his entrance, but had frozen after he had seen that his companion was Sakura.

He quickly shut his mouth and tried to masked his nervousness. Sakura ignored him as Naruto looked through the articles of clothing. The girl just stood at the entrance, one eye on Naruto while the other eye hovered over the man.

Naruto finally chose what he wanted to buy, a black jump suit with orange linings, and brought it to the counter. He pulled out his wallet and the man shot a look as Sakura before holding out his hand.

"Seven hundred fifty ryo." He muttered.

Naruto looked satisfied, and he reached into his wallet when Sakura appeared next to him, a hand on his.

"Sa-sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Six hundred." She said. "You should check the price." She turned to the shop keeper. "You shouldn't cheat your customers."

The man's eyes widened in fear and he nodded vigorously. "I'm sorry!" He cried. "Really, I'll never do it again."

Sakura glared at the man one more time before nodding at Naruto, who pulled out six hundred ryo, put it on the counter, and grabbed his new jumpsuit. The two left the store. Naruto walked ahead, seeming very happy. Sakura followed him a few feet behind. She felt a flare of chakra and whipped around, but saw nothing. She narrowed her eyes, before turning back and walking after the blonde.

* * *

When Naruto entered his office, more cheerful than usual, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the third Hokage of Konoha, wondered what had happened.

Naruto skipped over to his work table and placed a bag onto the ground. He then reached through it and pulled out a black jumpsuit. "Look at what I got!"

Hiruzen smiled. "Did you ask one of the ANBU to go with you?" He asked.

Naruto shook his head and Hiruzen inwardly frowned. "How much did you get it for?" He asked warily. Last time Naruto had gone shopping alone, he had been sold a pair of sandals for five hundred ryo, and he had to ask one of his ANBU to return it.

"I got it for six hundred." Naruto said. "At first, the man tried to cheat me with seven hundred fifty."

Hiruzen chuckled. Where had Naruto learned how to use 'cheat'?

"But when Sakura-chan glared at him and said that it was six hundred, he quickly agreed."

"Sakura-chan?" Hiruzen asked.

Naruto nodded. "She's this girl I met today. She's a little creepy, cause she doesn't smile, but she was nice."

After Naruto had left, Hiruzen clapped his hands and someone appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Genma, what do you think of this girl?" He asked.

Shiranui Genma offered the Hokage a polite bow before standing up. "As far as I could see, she seemed nice enough. She is the daughter of Haruno Murasaki." He said. "I unmuted my chakra for just a second and she noticed."

Hiruzen nodded. "Keep an eye on her when she's with Naruto."

* * *

Sakura wondered what had pressed her into helping Naruto. Well, she hadn't technically helped him, but he was weak, and Sakura didn't like weak people. Weakness is a sin.

Perhaps it was the absurd dream of becoming Hokage, so that he could be acknowledged by others. Perhaps it way the way he never seemed down for too long, even though he was shunned countless times. She guessed that it took courage and bravery to do that, and Sakura liked brave.

It sometimes gave you the power to push past weak.

Nonetheless, she enjoyed Naruto's company. She found herself listening intently to the sorts of pranks he did.

Now, no one who knew Sakura could say that she wasn't intelligent. Her mind was already running through all the different kinds of strategies and excuses Naruto could have used in order to escape trouble. Who knows, this could come in handy in the future. It was then that she also learnt that Naruto had a connection with the Hokage.

Sakura asked if she could tag along on Naruto's next prank, which was to paint the Yondaime Hokage's hair pink. Naruto enthusiastically agreed. Sakura stopped him from darting off without thinking. She asked for a day to think of a plan, and though slightly reluctant, Naruto agreed.

* * *

The next day, when an ANBU appeared and told him that someone had painted the Yondaime Hokage's hair pink, the first person that had come to mind was Naruto. However, when he voiced it out loud, the ANBU had told him that Naruto had been Genma's watch for the day, and he hadn't gone anywhere near the Hokage monument.

He had sent the ANBU to replace Genma for the moment, and had him come to his office, where he had confirmed it.

Hiruzen was starting to feel unsure. It wasn't Naruto?

* * *

Naruto laughed as he stared at the pink haired Hokage. Since not a single ANBU had approached him that day, he guessed his first ever friend's plan had worked.

Said girl was sitting next to him, chewing on a granola bar. The two had agreed to keep it a secret, but would tell the ANBU if they came to them and asked them. After some convincing, Sakura had managed to get Naruto to let her take half the blame. After all, it had been sometime since she had that kind of fun.

Naruto led her to his favorite shop, the Ichiraku ramen stand. Teuchi and Ayame greeted Naruto enthusiastically, then eyed Sakura curiously. When Naruto happily introduced the girl, they visibly relaxed and introduced themselves as Teuchi and his daughter, Ayame.

Naruto offered to pay for both his and Sakura's meals, but Teuchi said that today, it was on the house.

While they waited for their first bowls, Naruto turned to Sakura with a shy smile. "You know, I have a dream." He announced. "I'll tell if you promise not to laugh."

Sakura wordlessly turned to look at him. "I'm gonna be the Hokage one day!" He said. "I'll train and become strong and stuff, and become the best Hokage ever!"

Sakura looks at him. For someone who is shunned and hated by everyone, only thinks of playing pranks, and doesn't seem to have an ounce of intelligence, it seems lie a VERY big dream. However, behind the cheeky eyes and smile, Sakura can see a seriousness she has only seen a handful of times. She sees it every time she looks in a mirror.

Sakura decides that if he kept going with this determination, he would probably become Hokage one day. Sakura faintly nods. "I wanna become strong." She said simply.

Naruto looks at Sakura in admiration, the second of seriousness gone. It is not long after that Teuchi comes back, a bowl of ramen in each hand.

Naruto thanked Teuchi with a wide grin, and ordered bowl after bowl of ramen. Sakura picked at her first bowl, before deciding to eat it. When Sakura finally finished her first bowl, Naruto was well into his twelfth.

Sakura watched him slurp down half the bowl in one go with something akin to amazement. If he ate like this everyday, which Sakura suspected he did, how did he not end up hurting his stomach? She didn't eat a lot, and one bowl of ramen was something she could barely handle.

She staggered off her seat, feeling full than she had ever in her life. Maybe it was due to the fact that she had spent most of her life training. Naruto seemed very shocked that she had never eaten ramen before. Did ramen even exist in Kiri? Because her first ever...friend looked like he was going to have a heart attack, she decided not to tell him that the only thing she ever ate was simply rice with seaweed.

No on in Konoha apart from the Hokage and her family knew that she came from Kiri. It wasn't a secret or anything, just that Sakura didn't want to answer unwanted questions. Even after a few months, she was still trying to get used to the kind villagers and cheerful Genin teams. At first, she couldn't believe that the ANBU muted their chakra in the village.

In Konoha, people greeted each other on a daily basis. In Kiri, everyone spoke only if necessary, and even if they did, they sounded like they were keeping their voice close to themselves, so that they could quickly snatch it away if it came to that. The ANBU blasted out their Killing Intent and Genins came up dead, killed by their Jounin, at least three times a year.

Sakura decides that maybe, she could get used to this.

* * *

**Aaaaaaand she meets Naruto.**

**Chapter two is here~**

**The facts about Kiri is all made up. We have no idea what it's really like. (Like, it could be all shiny and sparkly and everyone is cheerful and friendly and smiley and the people are very nice and they pick up homeless children from the streets and raise them as their own and the ANBU are all very kind and give the poor children food for free. Maybe not, but you get the point.)**

**Do you think the Uchiha Massacre should occur? **

**Read and Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto (Rookie nine): 4**

**Team Gai (Yet to make an appearance): 6**

**Itachi: 9**

**Shisui: 12**

_**Chapter THREE**_

While nearly all the other children ran around the play ground, Sakura sat in the library, pouring over the scrolls. It was there that she had made a fateful encounter.

_That was the meeting between two of the four that would form an unbeatable team. One who was to witness something that made them try to avoid bloodshed. The other, soon to be driven too deep into the world of crimson to hold back their thirst for blood._

* * *

Uchiha Itachi was a very well known prodigy of Konoha. Even before that, girls fell at his feet simply for his looks. He was still nine and he already had fangirls. Some of them could be well into their twenties. Itachi just found that creepy.

He really didn't like the attention, and spent his days in Konoha training in one of the Uchiha private grounds. Just that particular day, he had decided to go to the library to kill time. He had been a Genin since seven. His team was having a short break from missions at the moment.

He had entered the library, and was greeted by the librarian. He came here very often. He grabbed one of the scrolls that had caught his interest the last time he had come here. It was still very early, the library had just opened, so he was very surprised when he saw someone sitting in a corner.

He remembered hearing about an ANBU being killed during a missions by the snake Sannin, Orochimaru. He had heard that he had a daughter with pink hair. Until now, Itachi wasn't sure if he believed it. He was pretty sure the pink haired girl in front of him was the daughter. She looked to be just around the same age as Sasuke.

Like any other ninja off duty, he had muted his Chakra, and could say he was pretty surprised when the girl glanced up at him for a split second before turning her attention back to her scroll. She had sensed him, and he was sure children twice her age shouldn't have been able to.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Itachi stepped towards the girl, who looked up again. "May I help you?" The girl asked. Itachi's eyes narrowed just a bit. The girl's voice was emotionless, nothing seeping through that would let Itachi read what she was thinking. Apart form that, her eyes were blank. They didn't hold joy or excitement, or any other emotion Itachi had come to associate with children. The window to one's thoughts were curtained.

"Are you Murasaki Haruno's daughter?" Itachi asked. That was classified information, but you'd have to blame the loud, gossipy, drunk shinobi he had bumped into on his way back from a mission.

The girl's expression didn't change. "Yes." She replied. "May I ask you ifbyou knew my father?"

"I have heard of him." Itachi replied. He had heard about Murasaki Haruno. He had appeared out of nowhere, but he had become an ANBU anyways. He had become very well known after his team had come back, bloodied and beaten, and had reported that Orochimaru had appeared and had attacked their team.

The girl narrowed her eyes. "We moved here some time ago."

Itachi stiffened. He had spent nearly his whole life trying to become unreadable, and here was this girl, reading his question right from his thoughts.

The girl glanced at him, then at her scroll, before putting it down next to her. "I'm Sakura." She said.

"Itachi." He replied.

"Itachi Uchiha?" The girl, Sakura asked. Itachi simply nodded.

"The graduate-the-Academy-at-seven-and-mastered-the-Sharingan-at-eight Itachi?" Sakura asked. Itachi had a feeling her question was more than that, but he nodded anyways.

"I'm joining the Academy in two years." She continued. So, she was four, the same age as Sasuke.

They stared at each other for a few more minutes, before Sakura wordlessly shuffled to the side and Itachi nodded his thanks before he sat down.

"Sharingan theory?" Sakura asked.

Itachi glanced at the title of his scroll and nodded. "Medical ninjutsu?"

Sakura nodded. "My father used to say I have close to perfect chakra control."

Itachi grunted.

Comfortable silence settled over them for the rest of the morning.

* * *

After that, Itachi would sometimes meet Sakura in the library, when they usually settled into their routine of reading, while sometimes, they would talk, the topic usually about the theories of different types of jutsus.

Her intelligence impressed him. Sometimes, he would explain something to her and even with his use of complex vocabulary, she could follow easily, usually understanding and remembering his explanations in one go.

One day, Itachi made a decision. "Would you like to join me and my cousin for training today?" He asked. He had told the girl about Shisui one week ago, before he had left for his mission. He had just come back yesterday.

Sakura glanced up from her scroll on poisons. For a second, Itachi thought he saw a glint of interest in Sakura's eyes, before it was gone. She nodded, and rolled up her scroll.

Itachi followed her example and two left the library with polite nods at the librarian.

Itachi wordlessly passed through the Uchiha compound gates and Sakura followed. The guards glanced at Sakura, then at Itachi, and let them pass.

Itachi circled around the house and led her towards the training grounds he usually trained in with Shisui. His cousin was already waiting.

Twelve year old Shisui jumped to his feet when Itachi came into view. He waved enthusiastically, before he caught sight of Sakura.

"Hello, Tachi-chan!" Shisui called. "Who's that?"

Itachi grunted in greeting. "This is Sakura-san." He said. "We met in the library."

* * *

Shisui was surprised. Itachi actually interacted with a girl? He glanced at Sakura. Though she looked pretty young, she held herself like a ninja. Her emotions were masked so well that Shisui couldn't read them and she seemed perfectly comfortable with Itachi, and vice-versa.

"Hello, Sakura-chan." Shisui said. "I'm Shisui."

Sakura nodded. "Hello."

Shisui inwardly cringed. This girl was just like a pink haired, younger, girl version of Itachi!

Shisui turned to Itachi. "Why did you bring her?" He asked.

"I invited her to train with us." Itachi said.

Shisui stared at him. "What?" He asked, the paused. "Well, she's welcome." Shisui decided. He glanced uncertainly at Sakura.

"Please go ahead." Sakura said. "I would like to watch for now."

Shisui grinned and turned to face Itachi.

* * *

Sakura kept her eyes trained on the two Uchiha's as they flew around the field. The way Itachi positioned himself after landing from a jump. The way Shisui flicked his wrist more than necessary when he threw a kunai.

Sakura wondered why people did that. Thrown kunai and shuriken rarely hit the enemy, and throwing your weapon just seemed stupid. What it the previously unarmed opponent picked it up?

Finally, they broke up, Shisui with his hand raised in a I-surrender sign.

Itachi stopped his onslaughts and Shisui plopped down on the ground beside Sakura, who instantly shuffled away a few feet.

"Okay..." Shisui breathed. "Why don't you fight Tachi-chan, Sakura-chan." He said. "We'll see how good you are."

Sakura slowly nodded. She met Itachi's gaze before she stood up ant the two took their positions on opposite sides of the field as Shisui tried to catch his breath. He was worried for the girl, but he knew that Itachi wouldn't do anything to seriously hurt her. He was still shocked that Itachi had made a friend. A girl to be exact.

Sakura drew out a scroll, and unsealed it's content, revealing a set of black tonfas. Shisui was surprised. He hadn't seen tonfas in sometime.

Itachi started by throwing a handful of kunai at her. Sakura easily knocked them out of the air. Itachi nodded in approval. He sent another volley of kunai at her, which she blocked.

Itachi drew out more kunai. Sakura pushed some chakra into her tonfas, and chains appeared from the bottom. Itachi threw more kunai at her, much faster then before. Sakura moved her tonfas so that the chains began spinning. The kunai hit the spinning chains, and were knocked away. Itachi, realizing that it was no use, stopped.

Shisui was slightly impressed.

Sakura flew forwards, the chains disappearing. A blade slid out of the side of one of the tonfas. Itachi flew forwards to meet her and he drew a kunai. Sakura raised her bladed tonfa and met Itachi's kunai. She ran chakra through the other and the spike at the tip appeared. Itachi's eyes slightly widened as she brought the other tonfa, spike first, towards him. Itachi leaped back.

Sakura didn't chase after him, but instead brought her chakra enhanced foot into the air, before bringing it down onto the ground. The earth shattered under her feet and sent a fissure towards the shocked Uchiha.

Itachi jumped out of the way. Midair, he turned to look at Sakura, but she wasn't there. He felt a spike of chakra just below him, and was met with a kick to the side that sent him flying.

Shisui's mouth was hanging open. Okay, maybe Itachi had underestimated her, but nonetheless, Sakura had landed a hit on _Itachi!_

* * *

"You should work on that thing you do when you land." Sakura murmured. Itachi and Shisui glanced at her. "You have a particular way of landing, which enabled me to calculate where you would land."

Itachi inwardly frowned. Really?

After receiving the kick, Itachi had decided that he should not underestimate his opponents. Though Sakura was fast, Itachi was faster. For now. So he had exploited that advantage, and had overwhelmed her. For a while, she had managed to keep up, which impressed Itachi to no end, but her stamina levels were very little compared to him. They had a five year age gap, and Itachi wouldn't be surprised it Sakura became faster than him in the upcoming years.

Shisui had invited Sakura over to the Uchiha compound for a rest, since the Uchiha clan head, Fugaku, was going to be away for the day.

Shisui slammed the door open and yelled at the top of his lungs. "We're back!"

Sasuke came running. He leaped into his brother's arms and Itachi brought him into a light hug before putting him down. Mikoto appeared at the entrance as Sasuke greeted Shisui. Shisui turned around to introduce Sakura but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Uh, Tachi-chan?" He began. "Where's Sakura-chan." Itachi turned around as well, and peek out from the door. He went outside and came back a few seconds later, his hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Oka-san, this is Sakura-san. I met her in the library." Itachi said.

Sasuke was looking at Sakura up and down, as if wondering if she would try and steal Itachi from him.

Shisui piped up. "She kicked Tachi-chan so hard he flew away, then healed him afterwards." He said, then added. "She's Murasaki Haruno's daughter."

Mikoto she crouched in front of Sakura. "Hello, Sakura-chan." She said.

"Hello, Mikoto-san." Sakura replied. Mikoto quickly invited the three into the house, and led them into the living room. She then darted off to the kitchen to grab them something to eat. Itachi sat onto the couch and Shisui flopped down next to him. Sasuke clambered into the spot on the other side of Itachi.

"Sakura-san, this is Sasuke. He is the same age as you." Itachi said. Sasuke blinked, and nodded shyly at Sakura,

"Hello, Sasuke-san." Sakura said. "I'm Sakura."

"H-hello, Sakura-chan." Sasuke stammered, before grabbing onto Itachi's hand in embarrassment.

* * *

**Was Sasuke too cute? We weren't sure, but since Itachi is still here and his family is still alive, he wouldn't be cold and stuff.**

**Read and Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter FOUR**_

Ever since her first visit to the Uchiha compound, Sakura had been invited several more times. She was yet to meet Fugaku Uchiha.

One day, Sakura was training at one of the training grounds, when it started to rain. Sakura cursed. The sky had been blue only hours ago. Sakura was used to being wet, because Kiri was engulfed in mist the whole time, and you just get used to it after some time. However, unlike the mist, rain plastered your clothes to your skin, and it felt disgusting.

So she cut her training short and darted under one of the closest roofs she could find, which turned out be be the Ichiraku ramen stand. There, she found Sasuke sitting at a table. She greeted Teuchi, who welcomed her to stay until the rain stopped.

Sasuke looked surprised as she shook her hair out and sat down on a seat next to him. "Hi, Sakura-chan." He said.

Sakura nodded. "Hello, Sasuke-san."

"What were you going?" Sasuke asked, jerking his head in the direction of the pouring rain.

"Training." Sakura said. "You?"

"I was at the park." He said. "Mother was supposed to pick me up."

Suddenly, rapid footsteps echoed around the empty pavement and they both whipped around. A blur of blonde flew past them and crashed into the stand. Dust rose into the air and Sakura instinctively raised her hands to her face. When the dust finally settles, she looked up to see Naruto sitting on the ground, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Hi, Sakura-chan." Naruto yelled, rubbing the back of his head. He quickly stood up.

Sakura nodded. "Hello, Naruto-san." She glanced between the two boys, who were now looking at each other. "Sasuke-san, this is Naruto-san. Naruto-san, Sasuke-san."

The two boys turned to stare at her, neither used to the polite way of introducing people. Nonetheless, they nodded nervously at each other. Naruto walked over and sat on Sakura's left.

He then ordered a bowl of ramen. "Sakura-chan, are you getting any?" He asked.

Sakura nodded, then turned to Sasuke. "Would you like some?" She asked.

Sasuke opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, everyone heard a growl. Sasuke glanced down at his feet, clearly embarrassed. "I don't have money." He mumbled.

"I can pay for you." Sakura offered. Before Sasuke could protest, she ordered two bowls of miso-ramen.

Teuchi grinned as he came back, holding two trays of ramen. He put one down in front of Naruto, and the other in front of Sakura. Ayame appeared behind him, and placed her tray in front of Sasuke. "Enjoy."

Naruto grinned, and began eating. Sakura cracked apart her chopsticks and glanced at Sasuke, who was staring at the ramen. "Sasuke-san?"

Sakura blinked, and looked up. "I've never had ramen before." He said.

Naruto choked on his mouthful. Sakura gently hit his back a couple of times and Naruto finally managed to swallow. "What?!" He asked. "Really?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Never?"

Another nod.

Naruto groaned, and stuffed another mouthful into his mouth. "You don't know how much you're missing out on! Ramen is like, the best thing in the world." Food flew out of his mouth as he spoke around it.

Sasuke grimaced. "Don't eat and speak at the same time, usuratonkachi."

Naruto quickly swallowed his mouthful. "What did you say, teme?"

"Hn, dobe."

"Teme!" Naruto jumped to his feet and Saskue rose to meet his challenge, but Sakura rose a hand to each of their faces.

"Eat first, play later." She said.

Sasuke whipped around to face her. "We're not playing."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, we're going to have a man to man talk!"

Sakura glanced between the two. "Neither of you are men." Sakura pointed out.

Naruto pouted. "That's not the point." He whined.

"Aniki!" Sasuke suddenly cried out. "Shisui!"

Sakura and Naruto turned around to see the Uchiha heir, along with his cousin, standing in the rain, each holding an umbrella. They glanced between Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke, before glancing at the bowls of half-eaten ramen on the counter. Wordlessly, they joined them undercover. Itachi took Shisui's umbrella, and folded them both up. He lay them against the counter.

"Hello, Itachi-san, Shisui-san." Sakura greeted.

"Hello, Sakura-san." Itachi replied.

Shisui grinned. "Hi Sakura-chan!"

"Aniki, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, adoration clear in his eyes.

Itachi glanced down at his brother. "Mother was going to pick you up, but it started raining. I offered to go look for you and Shisui decided to tag along, uninvited." Shisui pouted.

Naruto was gaping. "Wow, teme! Is that your brother? He looks just like you!"

Sakura frowned. "I believe that is wrong, as Itachi-san is older. Should it not be that Sasuke-san looks like Itachi-san?" Sakura blinked at the gazes she received. "Am I wrong?" She asked.

The edge of Itachi's lips curled upwards a tiny bit. "No, I believe not."

Shisui chuckled, then turned to Naruto. "I'm Shisui, Sasuke's cousin. That's Itachi. He's Sasuke's brother." he said, grinning."And who are you?" He asked, not unkindly.

Naruto grinned. "I'm Naruto, dattebayo!"

Shisui and Itachi shared a glance.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." Shisui said.

"The rain stopped." Sasuke said. Everyone turned to look, and sure enough, the rain had stopped, leaving puddles on the ground. Naruto let out a cheer and gulped down the rest of his ramen. Sakura followed suit, and Sasuke quickly finished his as well. Naruto threw some money on the counter, and darted out of the stand. He jumped into one of the puddles, splashing water everywhere.

"Come on, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme!" He yelled.

Said pair glanced at each other. Sakura reached into her pocket and drew out money to pay for the two bowls. Itachi stopped her.

"I will pay for Sasuke's bowl." He said. Sakura simply nodded.

The group walked after Naruto, who was standing on the top of the slide when they finally caught up to him at the park. Everything was still wet, and no one was around. Naruto considered that as a good thing. This way, he could play without parents chasing him around and children running from him.

Sakura liked it better too, as it wasn't loud. No children (usually) equals no noise. However, this wasn't going to fit today, as Naruto was as loud as a room full of children.

Naruto and Sasuke had jumped into the sand pit, and had started a sand castle competition before anyone could blink. By the end of the day, they had used up most of the sand, for their castles and in their shirts and hair. A sand war had started when Naruto jumped to his feet, kicking sand onto Sasuke. Sasuke claimed that Naruto had done it on purpose.

Shisui was watching the children mess around, looking like he wanted to join in himself. The only thing stopping him was the fact that Itachi was there.

Itachi and Sakura were locked in a serious debate on how they could adapt the skills required to perform the water walking technique to other types of techniques.

"The chakra control required to walk on water will be useful when performing chakra consuming techniques." Sakura said. "That way, the jutsus can be performed with much less chakra waste."

Itachi nodded. "Walking on water requires great chakra control, and if one can walk on water, one should be able to walk on other types of surfaces, like thee tree climbing technique."

"Walking up a tree is like a less difficult version on walking on water." Sakura said. "However, it will also depend on the surface, as tree climbing technique is where one uses chakra to stick to the tree. When walking on water, one must be aware of adjusting the amount of chakra to be able to support their weight."

"But to walk up a tree, one would need to be able to make sure they are correctly able to support their weight in case they need to move while halfway up. Waking on water is usually performed on a flat surfaced body of water." Itachi pointed out. "Jumping around on water also depends on the user's skill. Moving around will cause one's body weight to tip, therefore requiring the user to adjust the amount of chakra."

"What if one could glide across the water?" Sakura asked. "That way, weight adjusting would be narrowed to a minimum need, and balance adjusting would be easier."

"But if one were to glide across the water with an adapted version of the water walking technique, they would have to adjust to the moving ripples over the water surface." Itachi frowned. He glanced over at his brother and Naruto hurling sand at each other. He stifled a sigh, and turned back to Sakura, who was thinking his statement over in her head.

"But if one had the chakra control to be able to adjust their chakra to be able to glide, they should be able to adjust their chakra for balance, should they not?"

Itachi considered this. "I guess this goes both ways." He finally said. Sakura nodded in satisfaction.

The two glanced up to watch the two boys, only to notice that the two had stopped whatevery they had been doing, and were staring at them.

"Woah." Shisui's mouth was hanging open. "When I turned around, you were all serious and stuff. What were you guys talking about?"

Sakura frowned. "I believe we were talking about how one could adapt the skills required to perform the water walking technique to help them improve other types of skills that function along the same properties to it." Itachi nodded.

Shisui could only nod like an idiot to tell the two that he had heard them.

* * *

"How was the park, Sasuke-chan?" Mikoto asked her younger son. For once, the family had managed to gather for a dinner together. Shisui had been invited as well.

Sasuke scowled. "I met a boy. His name is Naruto." No one seemed to notice the way the adults stiffened. "He is Sakura-chan's friend." He grumbled. "He is an idiot."

Fugaku had noticed the way Sasuke had stopped pestering Itachi all the time.

Shisui grinned. "Because his sand castle was better than yours?"

Sasuke scowled. "Was not."

"Was too."

"Was not."

"Was-"

Mikoto coughed, break them off. "Anyways, what about you, Itachi-chan?"

"I found it interesting as well." Itachi finally said. "Sakura-san is very intelligent, and managed to hold a decent conversation without me having to define my words to her."

Shisui whooped. "They talked about how they could use the water walking technique for other kinds of stuff." He said.

Itachi glanced at him. "Actually, I believe that it was how one could adapt the skills required to walk on water for other uses."

"Sakura-chan always seemed smart." Mikoto said. "And she is very cute. If she were to become the wife of one of you, I wouldn't complain." She added teasingly.

Sasuke blushed, and Itachi froze with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth. Shisui chuckled.

Fugaku glanced at Mikoto. He wanted to meet this girl that had managed to befriend the Nine tail Jinchuriki, stopped Sasuke from following his brother around all the time, wrapped Mikoto around her finger, and had impress Itachi.

* * *

When Sasuke and Mikoto came to her house at around five, Sakura was pretty surprised. She quickly called them to her backyard, where she had been throwing some kunai at a target.

"Hi, Sakura-chan!" Sasuke called.

"Hello, Sakura-san." Mikoto smiled.

Sakura stopped what she was doing and nodded. "Hello, Sasuke-san, Mikoto-san."

Mikoto smiled "Would you like to come over to our house today, for dinner?" She asked. "My husband would like to meet you."

Sakura nodded. "Thank you for the invite, and yes, I would love to."

Sasuke grinned.

"Why don't we go inside?" Sakura suggested. "There are a few things I would like to know." Mikoto shot her a knowing look.

"Sure."

* * *

**New chapter!**

**Have no clue if the argument/debate makes any sense.**

**Can you guys give us some info on team Guy?**

**Like relationships and stuff.**

**Oh, and what they call each other. (Like suffix and stuff)**

**We know it's weird but, yeah :-) **

**Neji shall appear soon! (Maybe) Since we have no idea when he activated his Byakugan, or anything, it's just going to make an appearance with him.**

**Read and Review~**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter FIVE**_

Sakura served a plate of cookies and a cup of tea. Sasuke had run off to explore the garden, which wasn't anywhere big as his, but seemed much more colorful and full of life.

"Am I allowed to suspect that there is something behind the story you are telling me?" Sakura asked.

Mikoto smiled." You really are smart, aren't you." She said. "Anyways, you are correct. My husband would like to meet you, because you are now hanging out around Itachi. He is trying to find out whether you are going to be a distraction for our older son. He has heard about your skills from both our sons, as well as Shisui, and he wants to see them for himself."

Sakura nodded.

"Fugaku may ask you questions, so please don't be offended when he looks down on you." Mikoto said. "He puts the clan before anything, and if he deems you unworthy, he will forbid you from meeting Sasuke and Itachi."

Sakura nodded again. "I understand." She said.

Mikoto giggled. "Now, why don't we slowly head back to the compound?" She asked. "It's already five."

Sakura dipped her head. "Of course." She said, then glanced down at her clothes. "First, I would like to change into something appropriate."

Mikoto nodded. "Do you have a kimono?" She asked. "The dinner is going to be pretty formal." Sakura nodded.

Mikoto told Sasuke that she would be helping Sakura change, and the two went to the second floor, to her room.

While Sakura searched through a bunch of boxes, Mikoto looked through the girl's closet. It was full of ninja clothing, from thick but light material suited for winter, to quick-to-dry material for when going somewhere wet. Each piece of clothing had hidden compartments for weapons, scrolls, explosive tags, wire, and lots of other thins Mikoto couldn't put a name to.

This girl seemed more like a proper ninja than a girl who hadn't even gone to the Academy yet.

Mikoto knew that Sakura had come from another village with her father, and her mother was already dead. Her father had also died, and she decided not to ask about her past.

"Mikoto-san?"

Mikoto turned around at her name. Sakura stood there, holding up two pieces of kimono. "Which one do you think would be more appropriate?"

In one had, she held a white kimono, decorated simply with a few pink cherry blossoms.

In the other, she had a pale pink kimono, also decorated with cherry blossoms.

"I though something not too flashy, but not too simple would be the best." Sakura explained.

Mikoto nodded. She inspected the two pieces of clothing, and finally decided on one.

"I think the pale pink is better." She said.

Sakura nodded. She quickly went to change, and appeared a few minutes later.

The kimono was very pretty. The mae migoro was split diagonally by two different colors. The top half was a pale pink , and the bottom half was white. Cherry blossoms were littered around the bottom hem, as well as the sleeves.

Mikoto chose out a black obi with flower petals on it, and helped the girl put it on. She then combed out her hair, and pulled it into a bun.

She stepped back to inspect it, and she squealed. "You look adorable!" Sasuke came into the room at this, and he froze, not able to tear his gaze away from the pinkette.

"Wow." He gasped.

Sakura turned around to face the boy. "What do you think?" She asked.

Sasuke blushed, muttered something under his breath, and darted out.

Mikoto couldn't help but laugh at the confused look on Sakura's face.

* * *

Mikoto led Sakura into the living room. It was just before six, and she, along with Sasuke, needed to change.

Itachi and Fugaku had a clan meeting, and they would already be dressed when they came back. Sasuke stumbled down the stairs, wearing a dark blue kimono with the Uchiha emblem on the back. He blushed when he glanced at Sakura, before sitting next to her on the couch.

Mikoto appeared later on, before moving to prepare the dinner. When Sakura offered to help, Mikoto shook her head, saying that she had already prepared everything, and that she just had to set it up. Sakura realized that Mikoto had known Sakura would come, and offered the Uchiha Matriarch a small smile.

The sound of the door opening was heard, signaling the return of Fugaku and Itachi. Sasuke jumped to his feet, and rushed off to greet them. Mikoto followed her son and Sakura walked after her.

Sasuke had launched himself onto Itachi, and Itachi had smiled before placing his brother back onto the ground. Sakura nodded a greeting at Itachi, who looked at her and nodded back.

Mikoto smiled at Fugaku, then gently pushed Sakura forwards. "Fugaku, this is Sakura-chan." She said. "Sakura-chan, this is my husband, Fugaku."

Fugaku looked the girl over. She didn't look anything special, apart from her pink hair. He glanced at her and met her gaze. He was slightly surprised when she didn't break his gaze. Her face was expressionless, not a bit fear to be seen.

Sakura bowed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Fugaku-sama."

Fugaku nodded. "Like wise, Sakura-san."

* * *

The five sat around the kotatsu, knees tucked underneath them. Mikoto brought out lots of dishes, which she arranged on the table. While they began eating, Fugaku finally started asking her questions.

"So, Sakura-san. I have heard that you have been living alone..." Fugaku began.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Yes. My father died a month or so ago, and I have been living alone ever since. My father's siblings come check on me once in a while."

"You and your father moved to Konoha a few months ago, is that correct?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes. I think Konoha is a very nice place, and the training grounds are very adequate."

Fugaku glanced at her, the smallest hint of interest in his gaze. "Training grounds?"

"I have been training since I was four. I like studying medical Ninjutsu the most."

Fugaku seemed satisfied for the moment.

It was well after she had gone home that they noticed that the girl had cunningly steered the conversation away from her previous hometown.

Fugaku seemed to have taken a liking to Sakura, a feat which Shisui had congratulated her for by taking her out to eat. Sakura didn't understand half of what was going on.

The topic on where she had lived before she had moved to Konoha wasn't brought up again.

* * *

On the day of her fifth birthday, Mikoto had thrown a party for her. Naruto, along with Sasuke, Itachi and Shisui were there. Fugaku had been forced by (a very annoyed) Mikoto to cancel all his schedules for the day, and he was present as well.

Sakura had never had a party before, and had acted awkwardly for most of the time, but began warming up near the end.

She had received a whole bunch of weapons, specially crafted for her. Due to her chakra control, most of the gifts were chakra related; either they could be strengthened by chakra, or had special functions that could be activated with it. Her most favorite was the set of kunai, each with a Sakura on the handle. She was rather grateful.

Naruto had gotten her a whole bunch of instant ramen, which he would end up eating anyways. As if reading her mind, Sasuke said so, which caused the beginning of Sasuke Naruto World War countless.

For the first time in a while, Sakura felt the feeling of 'family'.

* * *

A few days after her birthday party, Sakura found a scroll in her mail box. She grabbed it, along with the news paper and a few other letters, and made her way back into her house.

She chucked the news paper to one side with a mental note to read it later. She opened the letters and read them one by one to find that they were all letters from her family, scattered around the countries. The letter from Mai's family in Kumo made her smile. Especially the messy drawing Honoka and Aiko had drawn.

Rinto's letter had a lollipop inside the envelope, all the way form Suna. Apparently, it was from Yukine. It was surprising, how it hadn't melted.

Akito and Nagisa's family had spent the night of her birthday at her house. She and Kuuga had spent the night playing pranks on people. With Sakura's brain and Kuuga's creativity, they managed to scare Yuuto away from Sakura's bedroom. No one was allowed to go in, uninvited.

To reward Kuuga for his help, Sakura let him into her room, to reveal that it was like any other ordinary room. Kuuga was slightly disappointed, but Yuuto's jealous look made up for it.

Finally, she picked up the scroll. She unrolled the scroll and began to read it.

She inspected the messy drawing of the single apple drawn onto the paper. There wasn't a name or a signature, but she had an idea of who it had come form. The apple was brown, but Sakura had a feeling that it had previously been red. She sniffed it. Yup, she knew who the sender was.

* * *

"You're leaving the village?" Sasuke gasped. "Isn't than dangerous and not allowed?"

Itachi and Shisui were quiet so far, but their curiosity was clear in their gaze.

Sakura nodded. "Yes, I am leaving the village, just for a while. I have permission from the Hokage. It is somewhat of a ritual for my..." She didn't need to say anything else for the others to know that this was about her previous village.

Sasuke finally let out a sigh. "You have to come back, okay?"

Sakura offered him a faint smile. "Of course." She promised. "I'll be back in around two years time." When Sasuke looked ready to complain, she added, "I'll write to you sometimes, and when I come back, we can go to the Academy together."

Sasuke nodded in satisfaction, and darted off to talk to his mother.

"What is this really about?" Itachi asked once his brother was out of earshot.

Sakura turned to him. "It is exactly like I have told Sasuke-san." She said. "It is something I have promised my father, as well as my teacher."

"Teacher?" Shisui butted in. Itachi shot him a glare, but it went ignored, for the time being.

"Yes." Sakura stood up, a clear sign that she didn't want to talk about it anymore. "I am to leave tomorrow, at noon. I just thought that I would come and tell you about it." She bowed, and turned around to head home.

* * *

Sakura left her house an hour before noon that day. She had spent an hour looking at the scroll her father had given her, and had finally decided to bring it with her only minutes ago.

She visited the Hokage and thanked him for letting her leave. The Hokage good naturally shook of her gratitude, and warned her to be careful. Sakura agreed, before making her way to the gates. She found that Mikoto, Itachi and Sasuke, along with Shisui and Naruto, were waiting at the entrance of the village.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto wailed. "I heard form the old-man that you're leaving!"

It took Sakura a few moments to realize that the 'old-man' was the Hokage. She briefly remembered the Hokage talking about Naruto quite fondly, and gently ruffled his hair. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "This is something I have to do." She smiled.

She hugged Naruto, then Shisui, told Sasuke to be good, and promised all three of them to get bring them a keepsake, or something if she had the time. She was pretty sure the 'if I have time' part of her statement went ignored.

She got breath knocked out of her by Mikoto who gave her a huge hug and she stopped in front of Itachi and glanced up at his face. "Don't you have missions?" She asked.

Itachi shrug. "Fortunately, I have no missions today, so I decided to see you off."

Sakura dipped her head. "Thank you." She offered him a light hug, and let go before she felt him tense. No matter what, he was still uncomfortable with physical contact. Sakura couldn't blame him. She was too.

She knew that he had lived through a war as a child, just like she had seen Academy students fight each other to become Genin, only to be killed by their own Jounin teacher as if it was nothing. Trust wasn't something that came naturally to either of them.

Though if wasn't something she could say, he should enjoy the privileges of being a child.

Sakura turned around and took a few steps towards the gates. "I will be back."

She made her way straight into the forest. She finally reached the trees and then slowed down into a walk.

She kept her senses up, and was glad that she did, when a bolt of lightning came straight at her. She dodged it, and the tree behind her exploded into smithereens.

Sakura neatly landed on one of the branches and glanced in the direction which the lightning bolt had come from.

"Hello, Ringo-sensei."

_That was the reunion between teacher and student. One, trying to keep up with their rapidly dimming time, the other, still obvious to the silent words._

* * *

**Kimono - Traditional Japanese clothing**

**Mae migoro - simply put, the front area of a kimono**

**Kotatsu - a low Japanese table which one sits with their knees tucked underneath them.**

* * *

**New chapter!**

**We are on the roll~!~!~!~!**

**We just had a HUGE shock wave of ideas, and though we like nearly all of them, we're going to pick out the ones that we think will make this story interesting. **

**Any ideas on who this 'Ringo' is?**

**Sorry, but as you can see (or read) Neji is not appearing here. Probably after Sakura's two year 'journey'.**

**Read and Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Some violence coming up!**

_**Chapter SIX**_

The person, Ringo, stepped out from behind a tree. She had long, red hair and black eyes. On her forehead was a Kiri forehead protector. She wore a loose, striped long-sleeved shirt with a dark obi around the waist and a black hakama. Underneath that, she was wearing a pair of striped leg warmers.

Ringo grinned, revealing her sharp teeth. "Saku-chan." She greeted. "I got you a birthday present, but you're going to have to earn during our time together, which you are to spend with me."

"That doesn't make sense. Besides," Sakura licked her lips. "then it isn't a present, is it?"

Ringo dismissively waved her hand. "Well, then it's not." She gestured with her hand for Sakura to follow her, then turned around and leaped into the trees.

Sakura nodded her head in defeat. Ringo was very hard to deal with. She jumped onto the next branch, and leaped after the red-head.

Ringo slowed down until Sakura was in step with her. "Anyways, I managed to grab a one year holiday, or something, so we better hurry. When we hit the limit, I'll thre- I mean, ask the Mizukage for another year."

"Hurrying does not change that fact that your holiday is one year long." Sakura pointed out.

Ringo turned to glare at her. "It doesn't matter." She said. "Sometimes, you and your logic annoys me."

"Likewise." Sakura replied.

Ringo frowned. "I'm not logical." She said. "I don't like logic."

"I mean, you are pretty hard to deal with." Sakura said.

"You are too."

"What do you expect. You have been training me in Kenjutsu ever since I was three."

"So?" Ringo asked.

"I have been with you for quite a while." Sakura said. "It isn't weird for me to have picked up some of your traits."

Ringo thought over this. "I don't care." She finally said. "As long as I can cut up my meals."

Sakura chuckled. "You haven't changed."

* * *

"A group of chakra up ahead. Twelve, I think. They don't seem too strong." Sakura reported.

She and Ringo were perched on a branch, near the edge of the forest. "What are we going to do?"

"Do you need to ask?" Ringo barked. "We're going to go cut them up!" The older woman jumped down onto the street, and Sakura followed suit.

Sure enough, six men leaped out at them. "Hand over everything you have!" One of them yelled. Six more men appeared, surrounding them.

"Told you." Sakura said.

Ringo shrug. "I didn't say you were wrong. Plus, more people to slice up."

"Don't you know who owe are?" One of the men asked. "We're the-"

"I don't care who you are!" Ringo interrupted them. She bared her sharp teeth, drew out a scroll, and summoned it's contents. "Cause it doesn't matter who you are when I, Ameyuri Ringo of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, is your opponent!"

A pair of swords appeared in her hands. Both were slim and had straight double-edged blades. They each had an upward-curved bladed prong near the tip of the sword on one side, and another near the base of the blade on the other.

Sakura sighed, and drew out a pair of kunai. The edge of the blade was curving inward, making the point sharper, more suited for stabbing and thrusting.

It had been some time since she had last held the standard Kirigakure kunai in her hands. Her tonfas were good for blocking other weapons, as well as disarming opponents and knocking them off balance, but they weren't very useful for spilling blood.

Personally, Sakura didn't care whether or not her blades spilled blood, as long as her opponents were incapacitated. However, Ringo was a whole different story, and if her...teacher wasn't satisfied, who knew what she would do?

The bandits looked unsure, as if they didn't know whether or not to believe her. Ringo didn't seem to care, as she leaped forwards, and stabbed one of the men straight through the right eye.

Sakura turned and slashed her kunai skillfully slicing the blade over one of the men's throat. A choked cry erupted from him, a sign of a cut windpipe. Sakura grinned, and pushed chakra through one of the blade, before throwing it at the man's head. The blade was thrown with so much force that it went right through the man's skull, and stabbed into the chest of the man behind him.

A crazed laugh erupted from Ringo, and Sakura turned around to watch as her teacher slashed her twin blades, Kiba, through two of the men.

Only four of the men were left, and they were already a distance away, running.

Ringo snarled, muttered something about cowards, and leaped after them. Sakura sighed, and raced off after her. Who knew what kind of mess her teacher would leave behind if she didn't go after her.

* * *

Sakura dumped the last of the men around the makeshift camp, before lighting a fire. These men died in a fire, which spread from their camp.

"Are you sure you didn't want to hand them in?" Sakura asked. She pulled out her father's old Bingo book and waved it. "The leader was on it. THey weren't very pricey, but..."

Ringo shook her hand. "Nope." She said. "Not bothered." Sakura sighed.

She turned to Ringo, and nodded. Ringo smiled, and the two began moving again. When Sakura asked where they were headed, all Ringo said was "To the Hot springs."

The two rested during the night, and began moving again when the sun slowly began rising. The two reached Yugakure, the Hidden village of Hot water. Ringo got a hotel for them, and the two settled in their room.

"Later, we're going to hit the hot springs." Ringo declared. "But first, lets walk around. Tomorrow, I'll see how much you've grown."

Sakura smiled, and nodded.

* * *

Sakura popped the envelope into the post box. Just a letter to Sasuke and Itachi, asking them how they were, she was fine, and that she was in Yugakure, the village that has forgotten wars, and had met up with her old teacher. She wrote that they would be staying there for a while, before signing off.

Sakura suspected that something was going on. Ringo's training had become harsher and harsher everyday, but Sakura didn't really mind. It was a path she had t take to become stronger. Everyday, she would drag herself back to the hotel, and fall asleep without eating anything. She would wake up at the crack of dawn to take a shower and eat, before once again, leaving with Ringo.

After spending the morning with Kenjutsu training, they would eat a quick breakfast, before working lightning jutsus. Ringo's swords, Kiba, were imbued with lightning.

Then they ate a light lunch, and spent the rest of the day working on the areas which Sakura needed to work on.

Sakura, though curious, never questioned Ringo on the hurry.

* * *

When Itachi came back from a mission, Sasuke wasn't there to greet him. Sasuke was _always_ there to welcome him home. Curious, as well as slightly worried, Itachi made his way into the living room, where he found Sasuke and his mother sitting around kotatsu, reading something.

Itachi purposely made a sound when he stepped, and the two glanced up at him. Sasuke beamed at him, before looking torn between running up to his brother and the piece of paper. Itachi wondered what was so important about it. His mother greeted him, briefly asked about his mission, and then told Itachi to get cleaned up, then told him to come back down when he was done.

"It's a letter from Sakura-chan!" Sasuke told him when sat down next to him. "She's in the Hot Water country!"

The letter was literally thrust in his face and Itachi took it.

_Dear Sasuke-san, Itachi-san and Mikoto-san._

_How are you? I am doing very well, so far. I have met up with my old teacher and we have reached Yugakure just a few days ago, and have decided to write to you._

_We are planning to stay here for some time, to train. If I have time, I shall write to you again._

_Sakura_

"We have to write something back!" Sasuke exclaimed. "Come on, Aniki."

Itachi smiled, and followed his brother to his room.

* * *

"Saku-chan!" Ringo called "Letter for you."

Sakura stumbled into the living room of their hotel room, still half asleep. The training yesterday had been extra difficult, and even after a couple hours of rest, she still felt drained. Sakura took the letter form Ringo, who was in a very good mood.

Sakura didn't understand, but apparently, scaring away the mailman did that to you. Sakura made a mental note to try this out later on in her life.

She instantly recognized Itachi's neat handwriting.

_Dear Sakura-chan _

Sakura paused, and smiled to herself. She could see just a hint of hesitation in the words. Sasuke had probably forced his brother to write 'chan' instead of 'san'.

_We are doing fine, thank you._

_Sasuke was delighted when we received your letter. We hope your training goes well. _

_Stay safe,_

_Itachi, Sasuke_

Sakura carefully folded it up and slipped it into her bag.

* * *

Three months had passed since they had first come to the Hot Water country. Ringo had declared that she had gotten bored, and that they were leaving.

Sakura just had enough time to write a quick letter, and slipped it into the post box, before they were off again. They re-entered the Fire country, and traveled along the border, towards the Water country.

They entered a village on one of the islands, and decided to stay there for a while. There, Ringo began to teach Sakura more about the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Sakura had met the Seven Swordsmen before, just once, when she had used to live in Kiri. Ringo had brought her along to one of their night outings, and she had been introduced to each one of them.

Ringo taught Sakura how to perform the Kirigakure no Jutsu, then taught her how to kill silently using it. "You usually need a water source to use it. It can't fool the Byakugan, but is effective against nearly all others." Ringo had said.

She pushed Sakura to her limits when training her with twins swords, and Sakura could feel her progress.

In her free time, Sakura sent letters to Konoha.

A month later, Ringo decided to move again, deeper into the land of the Water.

* * *

For the next two months, Sakura and Ringo moved around the land of the Water. Once in a while, they would go to another land to see if they were lucky enough to bump into bandits and Mercenary Ninja for a real battle.

Sakura was slowly beginning to notice the way Ringo's movements seemed to be rusting, bit by bit. She was getting worried, but any concerns she had voiced, were waved away by Ringo.

By the end of their sixth month together, Ringo's movements were so jagged and rough, as if everything hurt. She had even lost her playful nature in battle.

* * *

One day, early in the morning, Ringo took Sakura to a valley, where they sat down and watched the sun rise.

"What would you do if I tell you that I'm going to die?" Ringo asked, all of a sudden. The usual playful tone in her voice was gone, and Sakura noted that this must be serious.

"Accuse you of lying?" Sakura said.

Ringo chucked. "Why's that?"

Sakura frowned. "Because, as much as I hate to admit it, you're way stronger than me."

Ringo raised an eyebrow. Sakura had never openly admitted that fact, unless there was something... "At the moment anyways." Sakura continued. Ringo smiled.

"Let me rephrase that." She said. "What will you do if I told you that I'm dying."

Sakura stiffened. "What?" She asked. "What are you..."

Ringo closed her eyes and leaned back on her palms. "Just asking." She repeated.

Sakura frowned.

Ringo chuckled and stood up. "Let's spar." She said. She summoned Kiba, and twirled them around. "Come at me with everything you have." She announced. "Show me how much you've grown!"

* * *

**Here's chapter Six!**

**We are aware that we are sort of rushing through the things a bit, but this is more of a filler on Sakura's past than anything.**

**We (Raven and Darque) are planning a way of fitting all the ideas we have into one. We almost have it, but we don't know if it'll work out. Well, we'll just have to ask for your opinion when those chapters come out.**

**Read and Review~**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter SEVEN**_

There was something in Ringo's tone that didn't allow Sakura to decline.

_Sakura had always been good at remembering the contents of books and scrolls. She was also very good at adapting what she had read into skills. The things she could do was greatly limited. She was still three, after all._

_When there was a knock on the door that particular day, her father was out on a mission, and Sakura had run to open the door. On the other side stood a red-headed woman. She glanced down at Sakura, and her sharp eyes softened._

_"Is your mother home?" She had asked._

_Sakura had nodded mutely, and had gone to call her mother. The woman had turned out to be Ameyuri Ringo, her mother's childhood friend. Sakura was fascinated when the woman, Ringo revealed that she was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist._

Now that she thought back, Sakura couldn't remember how their first meeting had led to Ringo becoming her teacher.

* * *

They positions themselves on either side of the valley. Sakura rid herself of all emotions on her face, and summoned her tonfas. It had been some time since she had used them in battle, but they still fit right into her grasp.

Ringo was the first to move. Her movements were nearly invisible, and Sakura was reminded that the title 'Seven Swordsmen of the mist' wasn't just a decoration.

Ringo came at her with a combination of agile spinning movements, sweeping towards her like a spinning tornado of lightning charged blades.

Sakura quickly got out of the way. She ignored the way the earth shattered effortlessly when the swords made contact with it. She activated the chains and deflected the handful of kunai that came at her.

She activated the function that enabled her to wrap her tonfas to her arms then reached into her pocket and pulled out her set of kunai, the ones that had been crafted specially for her, the ones she had gotten from the Uchiha on her fifth birthday.

She threw them at Ringo, who deflected them neatly. The dozen kunai stabbed into the trees and ground around her. Sakura smirked, made a grab and pull motion with her hands, and muttered something under her breath. Ringo's eyes widened a split seconds before there was an explosion.

Sakura leaped away. She knew that something like that wasn't enough to defeat Ringo.

Sakura had been experimenting with her kunai ever since she had gotten them. The rings at the end had enabled her to attach ninja wire to them. The handle was hollow, which enabled her to slip rolled up explosive tags in them.

Ringo's silhouette appeared within the smoke. "Not bad." She called. Ringo held up Kiba, so that they were positioned like birch rods above her head. "Raitō Jutsu: Rakurai!" A bolt of lightning appeared from the sky.

Sakura quickly formed a few hand seals. "Raiton: Bakurai!" Lightning surrounded Sakura, somehow managing to cancel out the stronger lightning attack. The smoke cleared and Sakura stood there, breathing heavily, her clothes slightly singled. Sakura clicked her tongue. As expected, her jutsu hadn't been enough to fully block Ringo's attack.

Ringo suddenly appeared from the smoke, and delivered a harsh kick to Sakura's abdomen. Sakura was flung backwards, and crashed through several trees before finally stopping at the roots of one.

The pinkette quickly used a substitution jutsu, just in time to escape the vicious bolt of lightning that burnt the tree to crisps.

"Come on!" Ringo barked. "You can't beat me with those half hearted attacks of yours!" Ringo stabbed her swords into the ground. "Raiton: Sandāgēto!" An electrical charge was released into the air. Lightning flashed and streaked towards the ground, decimating the area all around Ringo.

Sakura couldn't help the scream that was torn from her throat. She was roughly flung backwards, and lay on her back, paralyzed for a few seconds. Everything hurt, and she couldn't move.

Sakura heard the faint footsteps of Ringo approaching her.

"Is that all?" Ringo asked, appearing in front of her.

Sakura gritted her teeth and flicked her fingers, before pulling a clumsy substitution jutsu. The kunai Sakura had laid out exploded. Sakura managed to drag herself onto her knees, and dragged herself as far as she could, before she collapsed again.

She turned around, and glanced at the area of the most recent explosion. The air looked a pale purple. Sakura managed a smile. Poison.

Suddenly, the poison was blown away. Ringo had one knee to the ground, her swords stabbed into the earth for support. She must have used her spinning technique to fling the poison away. Though her breathing was ragged, Ringo laughed. "You're very smart, you know." She breathed. "However-"

Sakura coughed, and pulled at the wire wrapped around her wrist. More kunai flew towards Ringo. Ringo aimed for the wire, cut it, and let out a pained gasp.

Sakura smirked. She had tied the wire so that it acted like an elastic. The moment it was forcefully cut, the senbon hidden within the kunai had shot forwards.

While Ringo was distracted, Sakura reached into her pouch and drew out a soldier pill, and popped it into her mouth. She had known since ages ago that her way of fighting wasn't fair. Even on ninja standards, one might consider Sakura's techniques very dirty.

Ringo had seen to that.

However, if she had wanted to fight fair and square, she would have become a samurai.

Sakura staggered to her feet and gripped her tonfa's in her hands. She flew towards Ringo, who met the strike with Kiba. Sakura felt electricity run through her, before she was flung backwards.

She managed to land awkwardly on all fours, and whipped around, tonfas raised, just in time to block Kiba's next blow. Ringo leaned towards her, teeth bared into a snarl.

Sakura yanked her hands to one side, and leaped away. Ringo, who must have gotten used to it by now, jumped away in the other direction. Sakura clicked her tongue in annoyance when the explosion hit nothing. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a small bomb. She threw it towards Ringo, and made a hand seal. "Katsu!"

The explosion spread the poison within at a quick pace. Ringo's hitched breath was heard, and Sakura winced. Even with everything going on, she had picked out one of her weaker poisons. Quickly shaking her head, she threw her set of kunai.

There was another explosion, and Sakura quickly hid her chakra signature and leaped into the smoke at the exactly same moment. After all, there were only smoke bombs hidden within.

She streaked through the white smoke, towards Ringo's flaring chakra signature. She erupted from the smoke, tonfas raised to attack.

For a moment, she forgot that her opponent was Ringo. She forgot that it was supposed to be a spar. She forgot everything, part from one single thought.

_Kill_

The thing that brought Sakura out of her trance was a splatter of blood.

* * *

Ringo slumped against Sakura, a faint smile playing on her lips.

Sakura let out a horrified gasp, and she stumbled backwards. The spikes on the top of her tonfas had come out, and had impaled Ringo.

"I-I'm sorry..." Sakura stuttered, but before she could say anything else, Ringo reached up and drew her into a tight hug.

"Do you think something like that will kill me?" Ringo asked. She coughed, and blood dribbled down her chin.

"I'm dying." Ringo murmured.

Sakura opened her mouth again, but Ringo pushed on. She let out a violent coughing fit, and blood splattered onto Sakura's clothes. "Oh, sorry about that, though I personally think it's pretty."

"I'm ill." Ringo said. "And it can't be cured." She let out a crazed laugh. "I'm dying in the most pathetic way."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You should have told me-"

"So that you could decline my challenge?" Ringo interrupted. "No way." She let out a content sigh. "That was probably one of the most fun fights I've had in a while."

"It's just a pity that it'll be my last." Ringo released Sakura and sat gown on the ground, dragging Sakura with her.

Ringo weakly passed her a scroll. "Once I die, you are to go to the location marked on the map. You are to look for the Hozuki clan and ask for Akashi. If he isn't available, ask for his son, Mangetsu. Mangetsu and his brother, Suigetsu are training to become part of the Seven Swordsmen of the mist. We're acquainted. Show him the scroll. He'll take you in for a while. There is something they have to tell you." She said.

Even when she took the scroll, Sakura kept her eyes on fixed on the earth. Her teacher, whom she had spent half a year with, was dying, and she hadn't realized.

"Here."

Sakura looked up at the voice, and saw that Ringo had shoved Kibi into her face.

Sakura could only managed an unintelligent "Huh?" and Ringo chuckled.

"I want you to have them." She said. "I've taught you everything I know in order for you to be able to use them to the best-" She was interrupted by her own coughing.

"Don't ta-"

"Of it's capabilities." Ringo continued, as if Sakura hadn't said anything. "The seven swords are passed down. Others killed the previous owner of the swords to get them." Ringo said. "I don't want to risk someone else getting them." She smiled. "And, you beat me, so I say that they are rightfully yours. Don't reveal them unless absolutely necessary."

"I know their supposed to belong to the best Kiri ninja, but I really don't care. You used to be Kiri, but you moved to Konoha, and I think that's enough. Beside, if you had remained in Kiri, you would have gotten it anyways."

Ringo unwrapped the bandages from her neck and threw them onto Sakura. "Wrap that around your neck." She ordered, and Sakura complied without really registering her movements. "Now, all you need to do is sharpen your teeth." Ringo joked.

"One more thing." The red-head said. "I want you to destroy my body. I don't want someone to find it and steal information. You can cut something off if you want to keep a memorial item, or something." Sakura could tell from her tone that Ringo was joking.

The red-head's face contorted with pain, and she managed one more smile before she collapsed.

_"Happy belated birthday, Sakura."_

* * *

Sakura stood at the edge of the cliff, and slowly opened up her hand. Dust caught the wind, bringing it up to the sky. In her other hand, the pinkette held a Kiri forehead protector.

Sakura had splattered a few drops of Ringo's blood on her Soul Spirit scroll, which she still couldn't bring herself to open.

Kiba was safely sealed within a scroll which could only be opened with her chakra.

She held back a choked sob, and watched the last of the dust be carried away by the wind.

_Of course she had been handicapped by an illness. There was no way that she, at the age of six, could have defeated Ameyuri Ringo!_

_Yet, she hadn't noticed._

She spent the next few days in the hotel they had been staying at. In the morning of the third day, she headed off.

The first thing Sakura did upon entering Kirigakure was sharpen her teeth. No one thought this was weird. The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were something nearly all children fantasized about.

Since Sakura had come from the other side of the village, as well as left some time ago, no one seemed to recognize her. She ignored the looks she received as she marched right up to the Hozuki clan compound.

Oh her way there, she had passed a bunch of squealing Genin girls, and the name 'Mangetsu' had come up many times. Sakura didn't know what to do with that information. At least she knew that this Mangetsu person was alive.

The guards stopped her at the entrance of the Hozuki compound gates. Sakura resisted the urge to kill them, and instead, patiently told them that she was here to see Mangetsu. She had done some research, and had found out that Akashi was the clan head. She couldn't just storm up to their compound and demand to see the head.

Usually, she would have been turned down, but it must have been something in her tone that had convinced the guards decided to let her in. She had received multiple glares from girls all over the place. Sakura suspected that they had tried to visit this 'Mangetsu' and had been turned down.

If she had been a fan-girl, she would have probably turned down too. But hey, what kind of fan-girl stormed up to the said guys house as says 'I'm here to see this Mangetsu guy. Does he live here?'?

Sakura had picked up many of Ringo's traits, and one of them was Ringo's ability to magically freak everyone out by grinning at them. It was then that she realized how her newly sharpened teeth fit in with each other.

* * *

Even at the age of ten, Mangetsu had fan-girls all over the place. They followed him everywhere, even when he tried to politely warn them off. He had asked the guards at the entrance of the Hozuki compound to turn them down should the ever come to visit him. So he was very surprised when a guard rushed over to him. He tripped over his own feet, but managed to come to a halt in front of him.

Between his wheezing, Mangetsu managed to make out that a girl with pink hair was asking for him.

Mangetsu searched his memory, but he couldn't remember any girl with pink hair.

Soon, he was standing at the doorway of the main house, looking at the pink haired girl, who looked barely four. The girl had looked him up and down, muttered something under her breath, and held out a scroll. "I need to give this to your father." She said. "I'm Sakura, Ringo's apprentice. She told me that you could take me in."

* * *

**Raitō Jutsu: Rakurai : Thunderswords Technique: Thunderbolt**

**Raiton: Bakurai : Lightning Release: Depth Charge**

**Raiton: Sandāgēto : Lightning Release: Thunder Gate**

* * *

**Yay! Update!**

**So, Sakura owns Kiba now. And the Hozukis make an appearance. We had an idea, and we don't know if it's good, but it'll be revealed in a future chapter. **

**Ameyuri Ringo died at a young age due to an illness. We decided to use this to...yeah.**

**Read and Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter EIGHT**_

Sakura inspected Mangetsu as he gaped at her. He had very light, almost white colored hair and white eyes.

She watched as Mangetsu frowned, his expression turning from surprise, to suspicion, and back to surprise.

Sakura waited patiently.

He kept shooting her glances, and Sakura met his gaze without flinching.

Finally, Mangetsu nodded. He passed the scroll back to Sakura.

"My father is usually busy." Mangetsu said. "As you probably know, I'm Mangetsu Hozuki."

Sakura dipped her head. "Please look after me."

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Mangetsu could see the way Sakura's...rather sharp teeth were gritted together. She didn't mean it, did she?

Mangetsu remembered that Ringo had told him briefly about her apprentice, and he could bet that this was her. Mangetsu nodded to himself and led Sakura into the compound. He took her to the living room, and sat her down. "My father is in his office right now. I will ask him if he has some time." He said. Sakura nodded.

Mangetsu's parents were very busy. He usually took care of himself and his brother, Suigetsu.

He glanced over at Sakura, who was looking out the window. "How old are you?" He asked.

"Seven." Sakura replied.

Mangetsu slowly nodded. At the age of seven, this girl was already Ringo's apprentice and acted so mature, just like an war-built ninja. And she was two years younger than Suigetsu.

Suddenly, said person came crashing into the room.

"Nii-san!" Suigetsu cried, grasping onto Mangetsu's sleeve. "Lets..." He trailed off as he noticed Sakura.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"This is Sakura-san." Mangetsu said. "Remember Ringo-san?" Suigetsu nodded. "This is her apprentice. She will be staying with us for a while."

Suigetsu gaped at Sakura. "Wow. Ringo-san taught you?"

Sakura nodded.

Suigetsu punched the air. "Me and nii-san are going to become one of the Seven Swordsmen of the mist too." He announced. "We're training right now."

Sakura looked between Mangetsu and Suigetsu. The two were very similar. Suigetsu had white hair and purple hair, and really did look like the younger version of his brother. Speaking of brothers...

"Do you have a post box around here?" Sakura asked.

Suigetsu nodded. "There's one down the street." He told her.

Sakura nodded. She had to tell the Uchiha brothers where she was.

_That was the beginning of a friendly rivalry of those with a similar goal. One will soon gain power, but whose death will affect another. The affected, who will soon be clutched between the fangs of a poison foe. And the last, who will leave, and not notice anything._

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

_Dear Sasuke-san, Itachi-san and Mikoto-san._

_Right now, I am in Kirigakure._

_Due to the arrangements of my teacher, the Hozuki clan have taken me in for a while._

_How are things there? Are Naruto and Sasuke causing trouble?_

_Sakura._

Itachi smiled softly. He glanced over at his brother, who was pouting softly, muttering something about how everyone thought the two fought all the time.

"What's the Hozuki clan?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

"It's a clan the resides in Hidden village of the Mist." Itachi said. "They have the ability to turn themselves into water."

"Wow." Sasuke turned back to the letter. "We have to reply." He announced.

Itachi sigh, but complied.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

"What?" Sakura stared at the head of the Hozuki clan.

Mangetsu's father had agreed to meet her just an hour or so before dinner. The clan head, and the siblings father, Akashi, was rather pleasant to talk to. Akashi was the complete opposite of Uchiha Fugaku, and Sakura was surprisingly comforted by his presence.

Sakura had given him Ringo's scroll and he took a few minutes reading it, before suggesting that they talk about this after dinner. Sakura didn't argue.

After dinner had finished when Akashi brought her to his office, with his sons tagging along.

Akashi nodded at Sakura. "It is true." He said. "The Haruno clan is the sister clan of the Hozuki clan. Your ancestors, Amarante and our's, Shioshishou, were brothers."

Finally, Sakura opened her mouth. "No one's ever told me this..."

Akashi chucked. "That is because not many know. And unlike the most that do know, I am not against it."

"Against it?"

Akashi nodded. "When the two clans split, the Haruno clan took the Suika no jutsu and adapted it into their own. Then they spread out over the countries to protect it. The Hozuki accused them of stealing." He said. "The Hozuki clan owns Ringo-san a favor, and I guess this is what she wanted me to tell you."

"The Haruno-clan's Suika no jutsu." Sakura said. "Do people still use it?" Her mind gears were turning. An idea was forming.

Akashi shrug. "I don't know that much about it." He said. "I don't even know the difference between the two."

Sakura thought back to Kiba. She had read that the Suika no jutsu made the Hozukis very vulnerable to lightning type techniques. If that were the case, why tell her this, after giving her a lightning based sword?

Sakura stood up. "Forgive me. Please just give me some time to get my mind wrapped around everything." She glanced over to Mangetsu and Suigetsu. They looked as shocked as she felt.

Akashi nodded. "I know it's sudden." He said kindly. "Take as much time as you want."

In was quite when Sakura left the room. Finally, Suigetsu spoke up. "So, is Sakura a part of our family?"

Mangetsu stared at the door which the pink-haired girl had left from. "Our clans were originally one, so in a way, yes."

Mangetsu's mind gears were turning. This must have been why Ringo had sent Sakura to them. He turned to his brother. "She taught us a lot on Kenjutsu." He said thoughtfully. "Let's repay her by helping her learn the Suika no jutsu."

Suigetsu nodded enthusiastically, and his body splattered onto the ground.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

_Hello, Sakura-chan._

_Everything is going on fine here, thank you._

_Yes, Sasuke and Naruto are still constantly fighting. Just yesterday, they fought over the swing at the park until the sun set._

Itachi's neat writing was replaced by Sasuke's.

_That's because he is an idiot._

_Anyways, guess what?_

_Aniki is going to take me out of the village! I'm allowed to tag along on a very simple mission. We're leaving in a month's time. _

Back to Itachi.

_We await your return,_

_Itachi, Sasuke_

Sakura folded up the letter and placed it into the pouch. She then stood up and made her way out of her room. Mangetsu had offered a training session to get her mind off things.

When she arrived at the training grounds, the two brothers were sparing with swords. Sakura wondered what they would say if they found out that she already had Kiba.

Mangetsu noticed her first, and stopped mid-strike, and had to dodge Suigetsu's blow to the face. "She's here."

Suigetsu stopped, and waved. "Hi, Sakura-chan."

Sakura dipped her head. "Hello."

Suigetsu grinned. "Come on! Show me what you know." He puffed out his chest, and Sakura felt a small smile creep onto her face. He sounded just like Sasuke when he was trying to mimic Itachi.

Sakura complied, and Suigetsu showed her a large variety of weapons. Sakura saw that some of them were shaped like the Swords of the Swordsmen of the Mist.

Her hands instantly went to the pair of swords made after the Kiba. Suigetsu, who had been fiddling with the Kubikiribocho, glanced at her in surprise.

"Kiba?" He asked.

Sakura just nodded.

Suigetsu nodded back, and a mischievous smirk appeared on his face. "Think fast." He jumped towards Sakura, sword raised.

Sakura resisted the urge to launch a lightning bolt at him. The sword was metal, and the electricity would most likely knock him unconscious. She reminded herself that these swords didn't hold the power of the original swords.

Instead, she sidestepped, then turned around and added an extra shove, sending Suigetsu crashing into his older brother. The two fell onto the ground, Suigetsu on top.

Mangetsu glared at his younger brother, and shoved him off. Suigetsu muttered an apology and a wordless alliance seemed to form between them as they turned to face her.

Suigetsu came at her again. Sakura blocked his heavy strike with one sword, and knocked the blunt side of the blade against his head. Not hard enough to knock him out, but enough to keep him on the ground for a few moments. She then turned to Mangetsu.

Mangetsu came at her, swinging his sword at her head. Sakura raised both of her blades and locked his sword with hers. She then kept one sword to keep his there, before sliding the other across the sharp end, and jabbed lightly at Mangetsu. The Hozuki quickly took a few steps backwards. Suigetsu was on his feet again.

The sound of metal against metal echoed around the area.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

She parried Suigetsu's sword and smashed the hilt of her sword against his undefended stomach. Mangetsu was sitting on the ground by a tree. He had surrendered when Sakura had placed her sword across his neck.

The younger Hozuki let out a fit of violet coughs and stumbled backwards. He tripped and landed on his backside.

"You can't hesitate." Sakura growled. "Even if your opponent looks younger and weaker than you, you don't know for sure that they are weaker than you. No matter what, don't underestimate you're opponents."

Suigetsu nodded. "Sorry."

Sakura nodded and helped him stand.

Mangetsu threw Sakura and Suigetsu each a water bottle.

"Drink the whole thing, then follow us." He told Sakura. "Also, have a quick read through this." He passed her a scroll.

Sakura glanced the scroll curiously. "Suika no Jutsu." She said. "The Haruno and Hozuki's..."

Mangetsu nodded "The Hydrification technique" He said. "We're going to teach it to you."

Sakura looked thoughtfully, her nose already buried in the scroll.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Sakura watched Mangetsu, then Suigetsu turn their body to water, then bring themselves back together again.

Sometimes, she wished she had the Byakugan. Then she could see how the chakra shadows changed at adapt to the new form.

She studied the chakra signature diagram the scroll. She relaxed herself, and took a few breaths.

She could mold chakra the best when she was relaxed. She felt a weird sensation prick at her skin, then creep up along her arms. She was curious, but didn't dare open her eyes and lose concentration.

Suigetsu let out a gasp, and she felt a weird feeling, as if her limbs we separating from one another, and when she opened her eyes, the world looked different. For one, it looked distorted, like she was looking at everything from underwater.

It took her a few seconds to realize that she had managed the technique on her first go. She relaxed again, and imagined what a normal person's chakra structure was like, and slowly began rearranging hers.

A few seconds later, she stood back on her feet, the two Hozukis staring at her in admiration.

"How did you..." Suigetsu asked.

Sakura frowned, and shrug. "I don't know." She admitted. "I just imagined what the chakra of someone in water form would look like, and rearranged mine to look like it."

"You rearranged your chakra by yourself?" Mangetsu asked. "I read that is difficult."

A smile played on the girl's lips. "Chakra control is my forte."

It was then that Mangetsu realized that Haruno Sakura, the prodigy, wasn't just a mere rumor.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

It had been around four months since she had learnt that the Haruno and the Hozuki were somewhat related.

She usually went out for some light training after dinner, so when she excused herself after that particular one to go back to her room, there was surprise in the air. Sakura locked the door, and started off by sharpening her weapons. She then attached some ninja wire onto the handles of a dozen shuriken. She slipped some explosive tags into a few of them, and a smoke bomb into another.

She realized that she had used her last poison powder bomb in their last spar. She inwardly winced. She's have to see if there were any in the shops next time she went to one.

When she finally sensed the two chakra signals leave her door, she took out Ringo's forehead protector and gripped it. She then drew out a scroll, and summoned Kiba.

She turned her right hand into water, and charged the blade with her left. She slowly touched the electric blade with her right. She tensed, but she felt nothing. Her expression melted into a smile, which grew bigger and bigger. Ringo must have thought of everything.

She buried her nose into the soft bandages wrapped loosely around her neck. She gripped the handled of Kiba and hugged it. She hadn't felt like this ever since the death of her father. A small part of her felt as if it was worse. Ringo was like the sister she never had. She was cheerful, straightforward, strong and everything else she wasn't.

For the first time in ever since the death of her mother, she cried.

* * *

**Suika no jutsu - Hydrification technique**

**(Suika also means Watermelon :D)**

* * *

**Do you guys think the story is progressing too quickly?**

_**Can you guys give us some summon ideas? I****t's an idea on Sakura's Hiden technique we've been thinking about. There's a reason that Sakura hasn't been told about it, if you're wondering.**_

_**They can be any type. **_

_**Just give us the following. If you have an account, we'll give you credits!**_

_**Name:**_

_**Gender:**_

_**Animal:**_

_**Appearance:**_

_**Personality:**_

_****__**Special Ability: (We forgot to mention this one. {eg: cat - agility, or something like that})**_

_**Additional facts:**_

**Just randomly...**

_**Darque: My most favorite Naruto characters are (In no particular order):**_

_**Gaara**_

_**Sasori**_

_**Deidara**_

_**Itachi**_

_**Neji**_

_**Mangetsu**_

**So, expect the appearance of the previous characters, okay?**

**Tell us what you think.**

**Read and Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**The first OC summon appears below!**

**There were a few that caught out eye, but this one seemed pretty interesting. We liked the idea, so we would like to thank:**

**Dimention4-death (Guest) for his/her idea.**

**We still need more summon ideas.**

**Please check out the super long AN at the end, as there are some (important?) things there.**

_**Chapter NINE**_

_'I'm sorry'_

_'Why…'_

_'It had to be done. If I hadn't, you would have been forced to do it.'_

_'Shisui…'_

_'Now, hurry up and take my eye. You had come home early. You saw me killing everyone. When I saw you, I attacked you. You acted in self-defense and killed me.'_

_'But-'_

_'Hurry, Itachi-chan. Don't tell Sasuke,okay? He deserves to not know.'_

_'Y-yes.'_

_'Be careful, Itachi-chan. The enemies are closer than you think.'_

_**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

Sakura had been woken up by a nightmare. She didn't know what it was about, just that there was a lot of blood. She had spent around a year and six months away from Konoha. She was wondering if she should return soon.

Sakura stumbled out of the house and into the garden. She found a shadowed area and stopped.

She had to do this, while the effects of the nightmare had her brain clouded. If it cleared, she would lose the resolve.

She carefully unrolled the Soul Spirit scroll.

She glanced down at the scroll. Instead of writing, many small, detailed drawings dotted the page. Sakura gently bit her thumb and watched the blood seep out. She carefully ran her thumb over the scroll and blinked when smoke appeared.

Realizing that it was a summoning scroll, Sakura quickly threw it away from her.

The smoke cleared, revealing a huge pile of wriggling...things.

Sakura let out a gasp when she realized that they were a countless amount of black and white snakes.

The snakes all turned their head to look at Sakura, who had retrieved a hidden kunai in her clothing. The snakes began to move, wrapping around one another, twisting and turning. The snakes seemed to merge with another, and a few seconds later, one, single giant black snake stood in its place. Its right eye was ice blue, and its let was blood red.

Sakura held her ground, unsure of what to do. Had she grabbed the wrong scroll? That wasn't possible, as she didn't have a single summoning scroll.

"Who are you?" The voice sounded female.

"Sakura." The pinkette replied, still too shocked to register what she was saying.

She was surprised when the girl got down onto on knee and bowed. "I am Kurohebi." The snake told her. "What may I do for you?"

Sakura blinked. "How...I mean, I have never made a contract..."

Kurohebi shook her head. "I am a summon, yet I am not." She said, looking up. At Sakura's curious expression, she elaborated. "I was created by putting the DNA of the different snake summons together. I am not bound to the usual rules of the summoning and the contract."

Sakura allowed a small frown on her face. "But why did you appear out of my father's Soul Spirit scroll?"

Kurohebi spoke softly. "I'm sorry, but I do not know that either. One day, I was back in a cage at Orochimaru's place, and the next thing I know, I'm here."

Sakura slowly nodded.

Kurohebi lowered her head again. "Please don't send me back." She pleaded. "Let me stay, and in return, I promise to come to your aid when summoned, and I will protect you until my last breath."

A memory sprouted within Sakura brain.

_'A Soul Spirit is created through the last ounce of emotion the creator has. Depending on the strength of one's feelings, it may merge and change forms. The appearance of the content of the scroll changes according to what the giver wanted to give, or protect the receiver from.'_

She glanced back down at the scroll, where a single word had appeared.

友

The word for friend.

Sakura reached out a hand towards the girl. "You are welcome to stay with me." She said.

Kurohebi nodded. Sakura stared at the girl again.

Kurohebi frowned. "Does this form make you uncomfortable?" She asked. "I can look like this, or turn into the giant black snake. I can also split myself into many small snakes, or shrink into a normal one." She said. She held up her hand in a 'hold on' motion.

The snake tilted it's head to one side, and it split into several snakes again, before coming back together again, this time, into the form of a human.

Sakura watched, half fascinated, as the last of the snakes faded against the figure's skin. She didn't know summons could do that.

She was shaken out of her thought a second later. With its long back hair and pale, almost white skin, Sakura's mind screamed 'Orochimaru!'

Sakura had only seen the picture of Orochimaru in the bingo book that had once belonged to her father, but there weren't many other people that looked like a snake.

However, upon closer inspection, she could see that the figure looked like a child. For a second, Sakura felt sorry for the child. I mean, who wants to look like Orochimaru?

The figure opened its eyes and once again, she was reminded of Orochimaru. The figure had snake like eyes, matching her snake form.

She glanced at herself in disgust. "This body comes from Orochimaru himself's DNA." She spat out the name.

Sakura stood back and inspected the girl. She had two black circles on her right cheek, connected to each other with a line. She wore a simple black robe. She shook her head. "This is fine." She finally said. "You may leave."

Kurohebi dipped her head. She asked for her hand, and Sakura slowly offered it forwards. Kurohebi took it, and trailed her tongue against her right wrist. Sakura gasped, but before she could do anything, Kurohebi drew back. "There." She said, then bowed one more time before she poofed into smoke.

The moment the snake disappeared, Sakura sank down onto her knees. She mindlessly inspected her wrist, where a summoning tattoo had appeared. She had used the Soul Spirit scroll because she had thought she was ready, but it had just cut down her resolve again.

_Her father had loved her._ Sakura knew this, but it hurt to have the truth thrust into her face again. _The last thoughts before he had died had been of her. _Sakura let out a whimper. _He had wanted her to have friends. _Of course, her father had died before she had met Sasuke, Itachi and Naruto. _Orochimaru. _Darkness clouded her mind.

She was going to go back. She was going to join the Academy. She was going to graduate and rise up the ranks. She was going to kill Orochimaru.

_'That's the spirit!'_

Sakura paused. Was it just her, or was there a voice in her head? 'Inner?' She wondered, half worried, half surprised. Her Inner had vanished ages ago.

_'Course it is! Who'd ya think it is?'_

Sakura ignored her question. 'Where have you been all these years?'

_'Don't you remember? You sealed me into the back of your mind, years ago. I have escaped, and now I am BAC-'_

'Why are you back?'

_'Let's just say that you nightmare cause a lot of strain on my...seal, and it loosened enough for me to escape. Now that we're back together, we shall RULE THE WOR-'_

Sakura shoved her away, and got ready to leave. She wasn't one to break promises. She had one more place she had to visit.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Suigetsu complained about her sudden decision, but he finally agreed when Sakura promised to write him some letters from time to time.

Akashi and his wife, Momoka, along with Mangetsu and Suigetsu, went with her to the Kirigakure gates, where Sakura departed alone.

It was a good thing that there weren't many bandits and thieves in the land of the Mist. She made quick progress towards the border, set up camp for the night, and moved the next morning. Soon, the environment began to change.

On the fourth day, Sakura could see the gates of Sunagakure.

Rinto's family greeted her at the gates. He talked briefly to the guards while Yukari and Yukine rushed over and gave her a hug which Sakura couldn't help but return.

She then bowed at Rinto, and thanked him for inviting her. Rinto shook her off with a grin, and he led the way back to his house.

Sakura smiled as she remembered the letter she had received a week ago, inviting her for a visit. The last time she had seen Rinto or his family had been at her mother's birthday. Had she mentioned that her family didn't gather often?

She was offered the guest room, and no one seemed to mind when Sakura told them apologetically that she could only stay for a few days, two weeks at most.

Yukine was seven, and had to spend the most of morning to evening in the Academy while Rinto and Yukari had their ninja duties. Sakura didn't mind, as this gave her time to explore and visit the library.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Sakura lay in her bed, running her eyes over the letter again.

_Sakura-chan,_

_Some major things have occurred, and in result, we haven't been able to write to you._

_My apologies.._

_Sasuke is busy at the moment, so it is a Good bye from me on our behalf._

_Itachi_

**_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._**

The next day, Sakura had been walking home after spending the day in the library, when the smell of blood stopped her. She had been slightly annoyed when she couldn't find an interesting scroll of chakra strings and puppetry, and the metallic smell seemed to wake up the part of her which had fed on Ringo's slight insanity.

Fortunately, she managed to control it by the time she reached the scene. Blood and corpses littered the ground. A hint of curiosity bubbled inside her, until she noticed the presence. She stared at the blood shed in front of her, then slowly raised her head to look at the cause of it.

A boy sat in the corner, arms wrapped around himself. He slowly raised his head. Sabaku no Gaara, the third son of the current Kazekage stared back at her. His red hair seemed to blend in with her blood covered walls of the alley.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Gaara stared at the girl in front of him. Why wasn't she running? The girl glanced curiously around at all the blood, then looked back at him. She stepped through the mess and held out her hand in front of him.

The sand at his feet moved almost angrily, but didn't make any moves to stop her. Gaara took this as a sign that the girl wasn't a threat to him.

The girl waited patiently and Gaara slowly reached out to grab her hand.

_That was the first touch between two that were similar, yet different. One who would soon drown in crimson, the other, already there and waiting._

"Finally." The girl murmured. She gently began dragging him towards the streets.

Gaara stopped, as if he was waiting for a punchline to some cruel joke. The girl paused when she noticed that he wasn't following. She glanced between him, and the streets, and turned towards the wall. "Lets go that way." She walked up the wall and Gaara stared at her, before his sand transported him to the roof tops. "I found a place where you can over see the desert." She said.

Not knowing what to do, Gaara followed her.

"I'm Sakura." The girl said. "I come from Konoha."

Gaara hesitated, before making up his mind. His father wouldn't hire a little girl from Konoha to assassinate him, would he? "I'm Gaara." He said.

The girl glanced at him, before nodding. "Hello, Gaara-san." She turned to the edge of the roof, and jumped onto the next. "Are you coming?" She asked.

His sand lifted him into the air and he effortlessly followed her.

"Here." Gaara suddenly noticed that they had stopped.

They were perched on top of one of the defense posts.

"I wanted to come here, but the guards bellow wouldn't let me." Sakura said.

Gaara realized with a jolt of pain that this girl had used him to scare away the guard. His sand reacted to his emotions and began moving around, when the girl smiled at him.

"For you aid in helping me come up here, you can have this." She threw him something and his sand rose automatically to catch it.

A glinting weapon was dropping into his hands. The girl had thrown a kunai at him...

Sakura smiled. "That's a special kunai." She said. "Made specially for me. I'm feeling nice, so keep it."

Gaara slowly nodded. So, she wasn't trying to kill him...

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

"My friend and I would like an ice-cream, please." Sakura murmured, handing the guy at the cart a few coins. The man glanced rapidly between her and the red-haired boy behind her.

Said boy was staring nervously at his feet, scared of the man's reaction.

The man gulped, and handed Sakura two cones with shaking hands. Sakura nodded curtly at him, before handing Gaara a cone and dragging him off.

"Sa-Sakura-chan, where are we going?" Gaara asked.

Sakura looked over her shoulder and shot him a smirk. "I'm feeling very bored, so we are going to the park." She said.

"But...they're already scared of me. No one wants to play with me." He took a deep breath. "I'm a monster."

Sakura stopped and smiled softly at him. "Life is a one way road, Gaara-san. You cannot stop or turn back. So you must live it with as little regrets as possible. After all, you cannot restart." She said. "If they fear you, let them fear 't let their opinions ruin everything. Whether you are a monster or not is decided by you."

Gaara looked crestfallen when Sakura told him that she needed to go back home. She promised that they would meet tomorrow, and Gaara reluctantly agreed.

When Sakura entered Rinto's house, everyone was already home. Yukari was the first to notice her.

"Oh, Sakura-chan!" She called. "Where were you?"

Sakura bowed. "My apologies, I met someone interesting, and I lost track of time."

Rinto chuckled.

"We promised to meet up tomorrow." She added.

Yukine grabbed her hand, then led her out to the garden, where he proceeded to show her what he had learnt at school. Sakura inwardly smiled. Usually, it should be the other way round. Instead, she watched as Yukine threw some kunai at the target, then showed her the hand signs of a simple jutsu.

She pointed out some things here and there, and offered a few tips, but her mind was elsewhere. Later that night, she wrote a letter to the Hozuki siblings, and decided to sleep.

* * *

**And Gaara makes an appearance. Inner Sakura is back as well.**

* * *

**A quick question:**

**Is it possible that that transferring ones chakra into another would allow them to use the affinity that is transferred?**

**Like, if person A was Raiton user and B was Fuuton user. If A transfers Chakra into B, will B be able to use Raiton?**

**____****. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

_**Darque: I'm not going to be able to write from the 9th to the 16th, then from the 18th to the 25th. And since Raven's writing sucks, we probably won't be able to update.**_

**Raven: I'm very offended. Anyways, what she says.**

******__****SO, SINCE WE HAVE A FEW CHAPTERS WRITTEN AHEAD, WE WILL UPLOAD ONE EXTRA CHAPTER FOR EVERY TEN REVIEWS WE GET!**

**WE HAVE STARTED A NEW NARUTO FANFIC (AGAIN):**

**Of Fate, Chance and a one more time  
**

The war had ended at a price and all Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto could ask for was a end together. But fate had always hated team seven. Once could say that it was cruel, thrusting a job into the arms of those who wanted to escape to death. However, another could say that this was a chance. A chance that everyone would wished for. A chance to start over. Team 7 time-travel fic

**____****. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

**The votes were all pretty close. We think you know which one won if you read the first part. We're sorry if your option wasn't chosen, but we hope you keep supporting 'Spirit and Soul'**

**Now, the OC summon isn't going to play any major part. It's just an idea on Sakura's second Kekkei Genkai we've been thinking about. There's a reason that Sakura hasn't been told about it, if you're wondering.**

_**We still want OC summon ideas!**_

_**Name:**_

_**Gender:**_

_**Animal:**_

_**Appearance:**_

_**Personality**__**:**_

_****__**Special Ability: (We forgot to mention this one. {eg: cat - agility, or something like that})**_

_**Additional facts:**_

**Tell us what you think, okay?**

**Read and Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter TEN**_

"Where are we going?" Gaara asked curiously. Sakura was walking along the streets, glancing into every street and alley way.

"I am tired." She announced. "So I am looking for an appropriate place to rest."

Gaara scrunched up his face in a frown. "What kind of appropriate place are you looking for?"

Sakura shrug. "That is why we are walking around."

Gaara suddenly grinned. "I told my uncle about you yesterday." He said. "He told me that that's what you call a friend." He added, sounding worried.

Sakura smiled at him. "It is." She confirmed. Gaara smiled back.

He told her about his uncle, then about his siblings, Temari and Kankuro. Sakura nodded once in a while to show him that she was listening. She then, told him about her dead mother and her father. Gaara seemed uncertain now, and Sakura was beginning to feel sorry for the nervous boy.

"Ah!" Sakura raised her voice. She pointed at a tree. "There."

Gaara, forgetting about he previous uneasiness, followed the pinkette curiously as she made her way to the tree.

"Life isn't fun unless it is interesting." She said. "So I am going to try something different today." She climbed up the tree and hooked her knees around a branch. She then proceeded to let go of the branch with her hands, so that she was hanging just from her bent knees.

Gaara blinked, but followed her suit, and soon, the two were hanging from a branch by their legs.

"What are you trying to accomplish?" Gaara asked.

"I'm looking at life from a different perspective." Was all Sakura offered as an answer.

_**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

That night, Sakura had gotten permission to stay out for a while. She sat on the roof of Rinto's house, her legs hanging over the side of the roof. It was her last day at Suna, and when she had told Gaara earlier that day, he had looked like he was going to cry. She had finally managed to calm him down when she promised that she wouldn't forget him, and that she would always be his friend, and that one they, he should come to Konoha to see her. Sending letters may not be a very goof idea, as Konoha and Suna weren't very friendly at the moment. Besides, what would the Kazekage think if she sent letters to his son?

She had a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen.

Her gut feeling was close to never wrong.

Her mind wandered to the Uchiha brothers, and Naruto. She sigh, and leaned back on her hands. The moon was bright tonight...

She sat up. Her head whipped form side to side, trying to find the sudden source of malice that had appeared. It was faint, so faint that she probably wouldn't have sensed it if she hadn't trained with Ringo, but it was there. She quickly got to her feet, hands going to her scroll pouch.

She sensed another wave of the chakra, and she turned to look in the direction it had come from. The Kazekage's office...

She was flying off the roof in a split second, a foreign feeling growing in her chest.

She landed on a roof, just in time to hear an ear splitting scream. Sand flew around the area, blocking her view.

She stayed where she was, eyes scanning for any signs of movement. A flash caught her eye, and Gaara stumbled out of the smoke, eyes wide with horror and fear. Sakura quickly jumped down, and landed in front of him.

Gaara looked up, but didn't seem like he was really seeing her. He looked her up and down, and his knees gave way. Sakura flashed forwards and caught him. She hugged him, and a second later, he had wrapped his arms around her too.

"He tried to kill me." Gaara gasped. "He never loved me."

It took Sakura a moment to figure out that he was telling her what had happened. Not knowing what to say, she hugged Gaara tighter. She saw something drip down Gaara's face, and raised her hand to gently wipe away his tears. She tried not to linger on the 'love' tattoo carved roughly onto his forehead.

Gaara jerked his head at the sudden movement, and Sakura let out a faint hiss as sand stabbed at her. She raised her arms instinctively, and the sand slashed through her left wrist.

Before she noticed what was going on, Gaara was onto her. Sakura was taken by surprise, and found herself pinned to the ground a second later, sand restraining her.

She recognized the look in Gaara's eyes. She knew that sudden movements could make him snap, and stayed at still as possible.

Gaara grabbed her left wrist, dripping with her blood, and raised it to his face. He ran his tongue gently along the cut, as if apologizing.

"I'm going to knock you out, okay?" Gaara whispered. "Because this is going to hurt, and I don't want you to hurt."

Sand wrapped around her nose and mouth, cutting off her air supply. Sakura gasped. The sand just tightened, and she slowly felt herself getting lightheaded. Black spots danced in her vision. She struggled for breath, and felt a few grains of sand go down her throat. She didn't have enough energy to cough, and darkness enclosed around her.

_**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

When Sakura woke up, she was lying messily on her bed. She pushed herself up, and a jolting pain shot up her arm. She raised her hand to inspect it, and noticed the bandages wrapped messily around her wrist. She turned it around, and noticed the words written onto her arm with now dry blood.

_'Sorry'_

Everything came crashing back to her and she tore off the bandages. She blinked at the bloody mess on her wrist, and entered the bathroom. She had a pretty good idea on what was engraved there, but she was more curious than anything. She held her hand under the tap, and watched as the kanji slowly revealed itself.

Despite the situation, she couldn't help but smile at the irony of it.

'愛'

Nonetheless, that why Sakura ended up with both her wrists wrapped in bandages.

_**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

Temari and Kankuro, like every other person in Suna, were afraid of their younger brother. Ever since the death of their uncle, he had become more violent than ever. They knew that it wasn't really his fault, but fear usually could shove any rational thinking away.

So, they were very surprised when they found their brother hanging upside down from a tree, his arms crossed. His eyes were open, and seemed to be looking at something only he could see.

He looked almost..._human_.

"G-gaara?" Temari stuttered. They flinched when the red-head turned around and fixed them with his menacing glare.

"What?" He snarled.

"Uh, you're needed back at home." Temari said.

Kankuro couldn't hold it back anymore. "What are you doing?" He blurted out, then slammed his hand over his mouth. "I...I mean..."

"Hn.' Gaara turned to face the way he had been looking at before they had interrupted him. "I'm looking at life from a different perspective."

Temari and Kankuro could only stare as Gaara flipped and landed on the ground. He disappeared in a swirl of sand and only then, did they move.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Sakura stopped at a inn midway to Konoha. She checked into a room, and noticed how everyone seemed afraid of something.

She shrugged this off, but decided to keep her eyes peeled.

She needed to clean the scar and re-wrap it with new bandages. She applied some cream to make sure it didn't get infected. She hoped that Gaara wouldn't be mad for leaving without telling him.

There was a sandy clearing just opposite the inn. However, when Sakura got there, she noticed that someone was already using it.

She stared at a surprisingly familiar black cloak, decorated with red clouds. Where had she seen it before?

The person was more like a huge thing. It was sort of leaned over, and was too big to be a person.

Whoever it was, was controlling a couple of puppets. Sakura admitted the way a the puppets danced around while firing dangerous attacks everywhere was a beautiful sight.

Suddenly, she heard fact shift in the wind, and flicked out a Kiri kunai in time to block a dozen senbon headed her way. As they feel away, she noticed a tint of green of each tip. They must have been poisoned.

Sakura glanced back up at the figure, and realized that he wasn't there any more.

She cursed, and swung a kunai behind her. The figure dodged it with a movement so smooth, they could have been dancing. A split second later, a kunai was at her throat.

She heard a man's voice by her ear. "What are you doing here?"

Sakura's lip twitched in amusement. She was a child, but this person treated her like how one would treat a suspicious ninja. "I'm on my way back to Konoha." Sakura said.

"Village? Where's your forehead protector?"

"Previously Kiri. Now, Konoha. I don't have one, because I an not yet a Genin."

The ninja tensed, before removing the kunai from her throat and taking a step back.

"Now, what is a yet to be Genin doing outside her village." The male asked. Sakura turned around slowly.

_That was the meeting between two, both whom had been thrust into the world of bloodshed too early. One through the lie of an once trusted one, the other through the death of a loved one by the hands of an yet unknown enemy._

"Visiting family." Sakura said. "Your puppets are beautiful.", she added like a second thought.

The man let out something that sounded like a chuckle.

"I know. Art is, after all, eternal."

Sakura recognized the man's face the moment he shook of his hat. Well, more like recognized the outer shell.

"The third Kazekage." She murmured. This meant that the man within the puppet was most likely...

"I'm Sasori."

She was correct. Standing in front of her was Akasuna no Sasori. Sakura had read about the puppet master a couple of times. How he had defected from Suna around ten years ago. How he had been named 'Akasuna' because of his ability to spill his opponents blood through close to perfect control over his puppets.

"Sakura." She said.

"Don't go spreading that you saw me. If you do, I will come back and kill you. The only reason I haven't some so yet is because I like your way of thinking." Sakura nodded. She wanted to know more about Sasori's skills. It wasn't everyday you meet a S-class criminal that decides not to kill you because they liked the way you think.

The two stood on the sandy grounds, until Sasori finally shifted. "I saw the wires. I believe that there are better means to replace them." His puppets flew back to him, the chakra string attached to them glowing a beautiful blue. "Hope that over the years, your thoughts on art don't change."

Sakura blinked, and he was gone.

Sakura spent the rest of her journey to Konoha in silence, mulling over her thoughts. She only realized that she had reached her destination when a guard yelled at her to stop. She showed them her papers, and asked to see the Hokage.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

The Hokage seemed happy to see her. She told him a brief story of her journey, and the Hokage told her to go home and rest. For some reason, he seemed pretty restless, but she decided not to ask.

"You start Academy tomorrow." He told her. "Your stuff will have been already delivered to your house."

Sakura dipped her head, and turned to leave.

She first visited Nagisa's family, who nearly had an heart attack when she suddenly turned up at the door. They invited her in, them called over Akito, who still didn't have a girl friend.

She passed her cousins some souvenirs, and gave the adults some food from the places she had gone to. She then told them about the Academy.

That was when Nagisa had told the story of the Uchiha massacre to her.

"Shisui-san...killed the clan?" Sakura asked.

The cheerful atmosphere died.

Nagisa slowly nodded. "Itachi and Sasuke were out on a mission, and Itachi found him when they came back. Those two are the only survivors."

Itachi and Sasuke were alive. Sakura faintly remembered the letter in which Sasuke had been allowed to tag along on a mission.

She quietly bid them good night.

When she reached her house, it was already dark. She found that someone must have kept the house clean, and guessed that it was Nagisa. She went straight to her room and took a quick shower, before changing.

In Kiri, she had bought some new clothes, and she was glad that she did. The clothes in her closet were way too small.

The books and stuff the Hokage had talked about was on her desk, and she tore open the pack to read through it. She frowned. The stuff in the books seemed way too easy. Sakura was going to have to look forward to the practical training. Hopefully, there was someone interesting.

She realized that she was going to see Naruto and Sasuke tomorrow, for the first time in two years.

A warm feeling bubbled inside her chest and smiling, she deciding to go to sleep.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

She woke up early the next morning. She checked that it was still five. She had gotten used to waking up early, and she cursed herself, wondering what she should do for the next few hours. She decided to take a long shower to relax.

She then ran over the text books one more time. She tossed aside the weapons provided, and noticed that it was perfect time to leave.

She changed into a red, short kimono with cherry blossom petal littered over it. She carefully wrapped her bandaged around her neck. She inserted several of her special kunai, as well as a few of the Kiri ones into several hidden compartments on her clothing. She then stored the scroll containing Kiba and the Soul Spirit scroll into her sleeves. She slipped on her shoes, which she had gotten specially made for her, then locked her house before heading out.

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Shut up, dobe." He snarled.

Naruto, who had been perched on the desk next to him scowled. "But Iruka-sensei is late." He complained.

Ino stormed up to them. "Naruto! Stay away from Sasuke-kun!"

Suddenly, the door was opened, and Iruka stepped in. "Have any of you seen the new student?" He asked.

The class turned quiet at that.

"We're getting a new student?" Naruto yelled.

Iruka nodded. "However, she said that she wanted to pop into the library, disappeared before anyone could say anything, and now she's nowhere to be seen."

"A girl?" Ino asked. She shot Sasuke a glance, who cringed at the thought of another annoying fan-girl.

Naruto yelled something, and Sasuke whipped around to face him.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open again, and a pink haired girl glanced around curiously. "Am I early, am I late..." She mumbled. She glanced around the classroom. "I guess I'm late."

Neither Sasuke nor Naruto noticed, as they were too busy glaring at each other.

Iruka sighed. "Anyways, this is Sakura Haruno, your new classmate."

* * *

**_Darque: I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!_**

**Raven: Finally!**

**We'll start updating again. Might be a bit slow, as we need to write them, but we will update.**

* * *

**Aaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddd...there's Sasori!**

**Again, we're sorry if this seems a bit rushed.**

**Raven: I'm sorry about the Gaara-Sakura-tattoo thing. Darque has this thing for it.**

_**Darque: I'm**_** sorry.****_ Who wouldn't want a hot red-head marking you permanently? By the way, did you know that I ship Sasori x Gaara?_**

**Raven: ...**

**Ideas for Summons are still welcome.**

**Read and Review~**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter ELEVEN**_

At the name, the glaring two froze, and turned their heads.

Naruto gasped. "Sakura-chan!" he yelled, pointing an almost accusing finger at the pinkette. "You're back!"

Sasuke's eyes widened and he didn't notice his chair fall to the floor as he jumped to his feet. "Sakura...chan?" He whispered. Luckily, no one heard the suffix at the end.

Sakura glanced at the blonde, then at the Uchiha, eyes softening for a moment. "Hello, Naruto-san, Sasuke-san." She dipped her head.

Iruka glanced between the three. "Well, Sakura, why don't you introduce yourself?" He asked. "Like your likes and dislikes?"

Sakura blinked. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like-" She paused. Telling these people any of those would give her away. Her personality was...a bit twisted. Not that one could blame her; hanging out with Ringo did that to you.

Instead, she decided to keep it simple.

"I like training and interesting things. I also like..." She glanced at Naruto, then Sasuke."My friends. I dislike things that are boring. My hobbies are..." Well, she couldn't exactly say 'cutting people up' and 'freaking people out by turning into water'. "Yeah."

Iruka nodded. "Now, why don't you sit beside..." He glanced around. "Naruto and Sasuke." He said. "Since you three seem to know each other, you two can show her around, okay?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. Sasuke smirked.

Groans of complaint were heard. Sakura ignored all of them and took her seat.

Iruka began the lesson, but as expected, Sakura knew everything. Instead, she decided to keep Naruto, who wasn't paying attention, company. He kept pestering her to tell him what she had been doing, and only shut up when Sakura promised to tell him later.

**__****. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

During break, the three gathered under a tree, where Sakura told them a brief story of her travels. How she had met her teacher, and how they had traveled around for a while. That her teacher had to leave, and how she had visited her old village. The she told them about the Hozuki brothers, and how she had decided to come back.

She glanced up, as noticed that Naruto was looking at her as if she was some kind of hero. She cringed at the thought. She then glanced at Sasuke, and saw the the glare he was shooting her. He knew she was lying. Since when had he gotten good at reading her? Nonetheless, she decided to comply to his wishes.

"Naruto-san, I am pretty thirsty, and I have no idea where you can get water. If you do not mind..." Sakura trailed off.

Naruto was on his feet in an instant. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'll be back in a flash!" And he was gone.

Sakura turned to Sasuke.

"What else happened?" Sasuke asked. He must have caught Sakura's mild discomfort, because his hand hesitantly snaked out, and grasped hers. "Don't lie and say that nothing happened."

Sakura wasn't someone who was good with human interactions, but she knew when she should accept the comfort.

Instead, she slowly wrapped her fingers around his. He jumped in surprise, but didn't pull away. Sakura had never been one for physical contact.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. She had no idea how to word her next sentence. "My teacher died." She said simply.

Sasuke opened his mouth, but Sakura quickly held up her finger. "Wait. First, please tell me about the Uchiha clan..." She trailed off.

Sasuke looked up at her, pain visible in his eyes. "Shisui killed the clan." He rasped. Sakura wasn't the most social person around, but she knew enough to know that this wasn't the time to say 'I knew that'.

"If we had gotten back sooner, we could have stopped him!" Sasuke choked out.

This time, she gently squeezed Sasuke's fingers.

"She was dying of an illness, but I didn't know. After all our years together, I didn't know. She then fought me, and had me kill her." She said. "I killed her."

Sasuke gripped her hand. Maybe they were more alike than they thought. They had people around them, but at the same time, they were alone.

_That was the beginning of an inseparable friendship. Two who understood the feeling only those surrounded by people, yet alone, would ever experience. Two driven together by the cruel ways of their lives, to hold the other together. _

**__****. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Ino gritted her teeth. Her followers fanned out behind her.

She had no idea what the two were talking about, but just because the pink haired girl was new and was Sasuke's friend didn't mean she could just hold his hand. And why wasn't the Uchiha pulling away?

"That stupid girl better stay away from Sasuke-kun." Ino snarled. Her followers nodded in agreement. The blonde whipped around, and made her way back into their classroom. She sat down, and waited for the Uchiha to come back.

She didn't have to wait long.

Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke entered their class room, way before class was supposed to start.

Ino pounced on Sasuke in an instant. "Sasuke-kun!" She cried. "Where were you?" She shot Sakura a glare, who ignored it.

Sasuke shook off the girl. "Get off!" He told her harshly.

Ino pouted.

"Hey! Whats going on here?" Everyone turned around. A boy stepped into the class room. He had two red upside down triangles on his cheeks. He stopped in front of Sakura. "Oh, your the new girl. Was it Haruno Sakura?"

Sakura nodded.

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba." He said.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Kiba?" She asked. Her mind instantly went to her swords. A small smile made a way onto her face.

"Yeah, why?" Kiba asked. Sakura shook her head.

A girl with dark blue hair shyly approached them. "He-hello." She murmured. Kiba turned around.

"Oh, hi Hinata!"

The girl blushed. "He-hello, Kiba-kun."

Kiba turned to Sakura again. "This is Hyuga Hinata." He said. "Hinata, that's Haruno Sakura."

Hinata hastily bowed in greeting and Sakura followed.

By the time Iruka entered the class room to start the lessons, Sakura had been introduced to Shino, Shikamaru and a few other of her new classmates.

She decided that she liked the Nara the best. His way of thinking and looking at life was very refreshing.

During the day, they studied the nature of a few simple types of jutsus. After lunch, the class was to meet in the gym, where they were going to do some taijutsu.

Sakura couldn't wait. Finally, she could move around a bit.

At lunch, Sasuke and Naruto dragged the pinkette to a table in the cafeteria. The whole room seemed to drop in temperature as the three entered together. Naruto winced under the weight of the glares and Sasuke hid it well. Sakura didn't seem to notice anything, or maybe she wasn't affected, but the three of them got a table at the edge of the room.

Naruto began complaining about Sasuke, and the Uchiha's one syllable answer seemed to annoy him even more. Soon, Sakura had to hold out her hands to stop them from leaping at each other's throats.

She finally suggested that they fight it out at their taijutsu lesson later, and when they calmed down to the point they actually were friendly towards one another, she wondered if it was a good suggestion.

The three made it into the gym and were greeted by Kiba and Hinata. Sakura noticed the way the Hyuga kept looking at Naruto, and wondered what it was all about.

Iruka finally made an appearance. "We are going to choose your opponent by drawing names." He said. Sakura sigh, Sasuke and Naruto's argument fresh on her mind.

All the pairs had been decided. Sakura was paired with Sasuke, which everyone seemed to complain about. She and Sasuke shared a glance.

"Are you okay about facing me?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura inwardly scoffed. There it was. Uchiha pride.

Iruka appeared behind them. "Sakura's father was an amazing ninja." He said. "He wouldn't have left her without any ninja knowledge, right?" Sasuke nodded, but still looked a bit uneasy.

Sakura smirked. If Sasuke was that confident, she wouldn't have to worry about hurting her opponent.

Sakura nodded, and led the into an empty spot. Naruto was fighting against Kiba. The blonde stopped in the middle to wave, and was punched in the face. Luckily, Kiba seemed interested in talking to her too, so they both stopped and approached them.

"Not fair! Why is Sakura-chan with Teme?" He asked.

Sasuke sigh.

Ino stormed up to them, her opponent, Shikamaru, to lazy to care. Nonetheless, he tagged along. Another girl, Ami, was hot on their heels.

Ino hugged Sasuke, who quickly pushed her off.

Ami shot a smug look at Ino, then attempted to wrap her arms around the Uchiha, but he dodged her. Ino smirked back.

"Be careful, Sasuke-kun!" Ino said, not seeming to mind Sasuke's actions. She whirled around to face Sakura."Get ready to be pounded by Sasuke-kun!" Ino announced. "He's way stronger than you."

Ami nodded vigorously. "Yeah."

Sakura frowned. "If he is way stronger than me, I doubt that there is any reason for you to worry about him." She said.

Shikamaru snickered. "That's true." He noted.

Ino whirled around. "You can shut up." She told him.

Sakura turned to Sasuke. "Well, would you like to start, Sasuke-san?" The Uchiha nodded.

The two took their positions on either ends of the field.

"Ladies first." Sasuke said, smirking. Several of the girls had broken off their spars to watch their 'Sasuke-kun' fight.

Sakura shot the crowd an annoyed look. She sighed, and she had to stop her hand from automatically going to her scrolls. She cursed, and shook out her hands. "Okay..." She murmured.

She crouched down into a stance. The Sasuke she knew years ago had been someone who had chosen the park over training. He had always pestered Itachi to train him, and hadn't done anything himself. Sakura knew from the way he now held himself that he had changed.

Sakura knew that she wasn't the best at taijutsu, but she as better than most. Especially her kicks. Since she usually used her tonfas, or maybe in the near future, Kiba, during battles, her hands weren't free. That had been the first thing Ringo had decided to train her on.

Her kicks were probably faster, and stronger, than most Genin, and maybe a few Chunin. And that was talking in Kiri standards.

Without her twin weapons, she had no idea what to do with her hands. Instead, she gestured at Sasuke. "Would you mind waiting?" She asked

Sasuke looked curious, but nodded.

Sakura turned and looked around for Iruka. Said guy noticed her gaze and approached her.

"Iruka-sa - my apologies, Iruka-sensei, I was wondering what the standard skill level of the Konoha Academy students are?" Sakura asked.

Iruka, being her teacher, had been informed of how she had used to live in Kiri. _But r__eally, Iruka-_san?

"You don't want to hurt Sasuke-kun's pride?" Iruka asked, sounding amused. "Tell you what. I'll come around and watch your fight, okay? Just wait and I'll come around."

Sakura dipped her head and turned back to their area. She told Sasuke of the arrangements, and the Uchiha nodded.

"Did you call Iruka-sensei because you're afraid that Sasuke-kun will beat you up?" Ami sneered.

"I was curious about the levels of the standard Konoha Academy students." Sakura said.

Ino opened her mouth as well, but Iruka quickly intervened.

If there was one thing she had mixed feelings about, was that depending on her mood, she chose between avoid battle and enjoying the feeling of tearing flesh.

"Actually, would you mind going first?." She said.

Sasuke shrug, and came at her, a fist aimed at her face. Her body moved automatically, and she easily dodged the blow. She crouched low, and shot forwards. She spun around gracefully, and landed a light kick on the side of Sasuke's head. A light kick that sent him flying.

She muttered a light "Ops." under her breath, then waited for the Uchiha to stand up. She stared at her hand. "What am I supposed to do with these." She muttered. She crossed her arms, then linked her fingers in front of her. She tried out a few more and finally decided on linking them behind her back. By then, Sasuke was back on his feet.

This time, Sakura attacked first. He leaped at him, rotating to add momentum to her kicks.

A gut feeling told Sasuke to dodge, and he did so. A heart beat later, he was glad that he did. The ground seemed to shake when the pinkette landed.

Sasuke jumped away to put some distance between them.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. Ringo's voice echoed through her mind. 'Find your enemy's weakness and exploit it' She had said. 'During battle, victory is the one way ticket to the next few seconds of your life.'

Sakura wasn't one to waste time. She imagined that this was a real fight situation. Her arms were sealed, and she could only use her legs.

What else could she use as a weapon?

'The only way to live through this harsh life is to win. No matter how dirty you fight, or how unfair you are being, you have to win.' Her inner Ringo grinned at her. One that was all teeth.

Sakura bared her own.

She wasn't very fond of the thought of blood in her mouth, but if it came to it, she would do it.

Sasuke stood opposite her. His stance was that which nearly every student started off with. The one in between offence and defense. Sakura had noticed that Sasuke was good at adapting his movements to match those of an opponent if they were to suddenly change their direction of approach. However, if he were to be knocked out of balance, penetrating his defense would be easy.

Without wasting a second, she was onto him again, launching kick after kick. Sasuke had problems dodging them, and he cursed under his breath when he began to feel tired. Sakura, on the other hand, didn't seem to have broken a sweat.

She hooked her leg around his, and slammed him onto the ground. She dug her elbow under his chin to hold him down. His neck was bare, undefended. She could just twist around and puncture his throat...

"Sakura!"

She froze.

* * *

**Mwahahahahaha!**

**So, as promised, an extra chapter.**

**Did you like it?**

**We're still in need of summons!**

**This seems like the shortest AN in forever~**

**Read and Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**_Chapter TWELVE_**

Sasuke lay beneath her, his hands held up in an attempt to grasp her wrists. Her teeth were inches away from the Uchiha's neck.

Sakura quickly scrambled off him, and fell backwards. She sat on the ground, breathing heavily. "Sorry." She whispered. She swallowed several times, trying to get rid of the sudden dryness in her throat.

Sasuke let out a fit of coughs, rubbing his neck.

Sakura's eyes widened slightly. "Sorry." She repeated. _What was she doing?_

Sasuke is her friend, but this was a fight. How seriously was she supposed to take it? She had a pretty high pain resistance, but how high was Sasuke's? Hers was around average compared to Kiri Chunin, but that was in Kiri. How different were Kiri and Konoha nin? Were they different? She was sure they were, because everything seemed different. But then again, you shouldn't judge something by it's looks-

"Sakura." Iruka's voice cut through her thoughts.

Sakura shook her head and looked up. Sasuke's fan-girls were hovering over the Uchiha, offering him their water bottles and trying to pat his back. Sasuke pushed them all away. He scrambled to his feet and hobbled over to Sakura. Sakura stared at the hand offered out to her.

Sasuke sigh. "When someone offers you their hand, you take it." He told her.

Sakura slowly reached out and grabbed it. Sasuke pulled her up.

"Hey!" Ino stormed up to them. "Don't touch Sasuke-kun! You hurt him!" She shrieked.

Ami grabbed Sasuke's hand and yanked it away form Sakura. "Don't get your dirty hands on him, pinky! If you do, I'll beat you up!"

_'Tear them apart!'_

'Oh. You're back.'

_'Course I am!'_

'Why are you here now?'

_'That's cause a bunch o' wannabees are daring to insult us! No one insults the hair!'_

Sakura shoved the shouting mass of conscious away. She had a feeling she knew why she had sealed away her inner. She wondered how her mother side's family lived without being driven insane.

Instead, she turned to the two fuming girls. Sasuke had shoved them off roughly and he was currently glaring at the two, who didn't seem to notice.

"I believe you beating me is impossible, as you stated before that Sasuke-san was the strongest in the class. I defeated him." She pointed out.

"That's because Sasuke...went easy on you!" Ami declared. "Cause you're a girl."

"I could so beat you!" Ino added.

"Would you like to test that theory?" Sakura asked. _She could easily tear them-_

"That's enough." Iruka cut in. "Ino, Ami, and the rest of you, get back to your spars. Sasuke, you know where the first-aid box is, right? Take care of your wounds and rest for a while. You too, Sakura." He said. "When you've recovered, continue. Just don't take it too seriously, okay?"

Ino snorted, and stormed off. Ami glared at Sakura for a few more seconds, then stalked away.

Sasuke reached the edge of the area and pulled out a box. He opened it and took out a roll of bandages. Sakura thought back to the medical scrolls she had read, and the skills she had picked up from it, but decided against it. The less your enemies knew about your skill, the better. Sasuke wasn't her enemy, but you didn't know when one could be watching you.

Sasuke seemed to be straggling with wrapping a bandage around his arm, and Sakura moved to help him. She wrapped the white cloth around the cut on SAsuke's arm, which he had probably gotten when e had hit the ground.

"I'm very sorry." Sakura murmured. She reached up and buried her nose into Ringo's bandages around her neck.

Sasuke sigh. "I said I'm fine. Don't keep apologizing."

Sakura nodded. "Right."

"I noticed that you only kicked." Sasuke said. "Why's that?"

Sakura blinked. "My weapons are handheld, and I have never found the need to punch someone." She said. "Besides, my kicks are stronger." She added like an afterthought.

"But what if you loose your weapons in battle?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura shook her head. "I have made sure that they will return to me with a technique I have learnt from my teacher."

Sasuke sigh. "Well, I can teach you, just in case." He offered, almost sounding like the five year old boy.

Sakura smiled faintly. "I would like that."

_**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

"Don't swing just your arms." Sasuke said. "Use your whole body." He showed her the move again. "Try again." He held up he his hands.

Sakura nodded. She clenched her fists, and hurled them at Sasuke's palms. Sasuke winced at the blows. "Better." He said.

Sakura nodded at the compliment. "I still like my kicks more." She told him. Sasuke smirked.

"Show me again. Your kicks." He said.

Sakura smirked back. "Would you like to be my training dummy?" She asked.

Sasuke visibly paled. "Uh, there are a few training dummies there." He pointed towards the back of the training area. Sakura grinned and followed the Uchiha as he made his way around the fighting pairs.

Sakura crouched in front of a dummy. She narrowed her eyes and flew forwards. She pushed off with one foot and spun around. She landed her first kick on the side of the dummy's head, and kept spinning, landing three more blows, one to the side of the chest, another to the neck, and more more to the head. Done only two seconds later, she jumped back, landing back in a crouch. The dummy fell apart.

She turned back to Sasuke's slightly awed expression. "Where'd you learn that?" He asked.

Sakura bit her lip. "My teacher was the one who taught me Kenjutsu." She said. "She also taught me how to kick."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. "Okay."

_**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

"Okay, that is it for today." Iruka said. "Tomorrow, we will learn a bit on teamwork and coordination in pairs." The students nodded and he dismissed them.

When Iruka had first heard about Sakura Haruno, he didn't know what to think. When he had first seen her, his mind had automatically assumed that she would be like any other girl in the Academy; smart with books, but no so much in actual combat. So, he had been worried when she had been paired with Sasuke. Sure, he knew she had come from Kiri, but images usually associated with the Bloody mist were of blood and dead people and crying children and other things along those lines. Not cute pink haired girls with green eyes that seemed short of words. He also knew that Sasuke and Sakura were friends, but Sasuke wasn't one to old back, even if his opponent was a girl. He had been surprised when she had called him Iruka-san, but had suggested that he watch their spar in case Sasuke got out of control.

Like any other, he had underestimated her for her pink hair and her innocent air. Innocent air that perfectly concealed her skills. She had been about to tear thought Sasuke's throat with her _teeth.__  
_

He had seen the look in her eyes, just for a brief second, but it was there. The eyes of a veteran ninja that had lived through the life of war. The look of unconcealed ease at taking the life lying defenselessly in front of them. The insane look in the eyes of one who couldn't hold back their blood lust.

He had called out to her, and the girl had quickly regained control of herself, but Iruka knew that he would remember the flash of insane green. He would have to be careful around her.

He'd need to keep in mind that this girl had been born and had grown up in Kiri, the Hidden Village of the Bloody mist.

_**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

Sasuke had never seemed very excited about the Academy, so when his little brother came running towards him with an unusual smile on his face, Itachi was slightly surprised.

"Aniki!" Sasuke asked, stopping in front of him. "Guess what?"

Itachi stood up from where he had been leaning against the Academy gates and tilted his head.

"Sakura-chan's back!" Sasuke said, at the same time a soft voice greeted him.

"Hello, Itachi-san."

Itachi paused, and looked up. A small smile made his way onto his face as he looked at the pinkette. He could sense her chakra, and could tell that where she had gone, and whatever she had been doing, she had gotten stronger.

He frowned as he noticed the bandages around his brother's arm. "What happened?" He asked.

Sasuke blinked. "Oh, uh..."

Sakura stepped forward and bowed. "My deepest apologies." She apologized. "We were sparing. I lost myself for a moment and I kicked him."

Itachi was slightly taken back. He had just remembered Sakura's very polite ways. He was also surprised that Sakura had managed to kick Sasuke strong enough for there to be a need to wrap it in bandages. Sakura seemed like she had been training, but Sasuke had been doing so as well. Sakura must have improved more than he , she had been strong from before; he knew first hand.

Sasuke turned to the girl. "I said it was okay!" He exclaimed, panic lacing his voice.

Itachi felt a rush of amusement at his younger brother's state, as he tried to get Sakura to raise her head.

Itachi 'hn'ed in agreement and Sakura dipped her head again. "I have gotten you something from my...travels." She said. "It is at home, so-"

"You can come over." Sasuke said. "Go home and change and stuff, and then come over." He paused. "I'll invite the Dobe." He added.

Sakura smiled. "That would be nice." She said, then glanced at Itachi.

Itachi realized that the girl was asking for permission and nodded. Sakura nodded in gratitude. "I shall come by later." She turned to leave.

Itachi thought back to their first spar.

"Sakura-san." Sakura stopped and turned back. "Do you remember our first spar?" He asked.

Sakura slowly nodded. "Our first and last, so far."

Itachi smiled faintly. "How about another, soon?" He asked.

Everyone around them, parents, guardians, students, teachers and random passerbys, all froze.

Sakura, unaffected by all the sudden looks and whispers, smiled back. "That would be nice as well."

_**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

Sakura summoned her gifts for the Uchiha brothers and Naruto. She glanced at the clock, and decided to head out. She locked the door, and stepped into the main street. People stopped what they were doing to look at her. Soon, whispers were flying around.

The most common ones were:

"Did you hear? Itachi-san challenged that girl to a spar."

"What, really?" or "You must be joking!"

A few were like:

"I don't get what Itachi-kun sees in her."

"I bet her hair's dyed."

_'Nyak nyak NYAK!'_

Sakura sigh. 'Hello Inner, bye.' She shoved her away. She didn't have time to deal with her crazy Inner at the moment. She could feel Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto's chakra signatures ahead. She quickened her pace and greeted them. "Hello."

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. "We came to pick you up!."

Sasuke elbowed him. "She can see that, idiot!"

"What did you-"

"Sasuke-san, Naruto-san, if you fight, there will be no gifts for you. Itachi-san, thank you for coming all the way out here."

Itachi nodded. "Let's go."

_**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

Sakura held out the messily wrapped package to Naruto. "This is just some random things." She said. "It's...ramen found where some of my...family come from." She had only found out during her stay with the Hozuki that there _was_ ramen in Kiri. "And this one is ramen from Suna."

Naruto whooped. "Thanks, Sakura-chan."

Sasuke sigh.

Sakura turned to both him and Naruto, and pulled out two, identical, small boxes. "Here."

Both boys opened, revealing pendants. A simple metallic circle with the word '友達' or 'friend' engraved into it. "I have one too." She said, and showed them the necklace around her neck.

"This is...thanks." Sasuke murmured.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded.

"I wanna eat some of this." Naruto announced, fingering the ramen. "Teme, come with me."

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm and they darted off. Sakura watched them until they disappeared around the corner, before turning to Itachi. "This is for you." She handed him a beautifully decorated box, with swirls which Itachi suspected were clouds or mist.

Itachi opened it, revealing a set of unusual looking kunai. A type he had never seen before.

"I designed those and had them specially made. Their general shape come from the standard ones of Kirigakure." Sakura said. "They are more suitable stabbing and thrusting than normal ones." Itachi picked up one of the kunai and inspected it. They were neatly made, and the blades seemed sharp and deadly.

Sakura reached into her pocket. "One more." She passed him a glass vile. "Careful."

Itachi carefully took it and held it up. The green liquid sloshed inside it. "Poison?" He asked.

Sakura nodded. "I...lets just say bumped into a Suna nin on my way back, and that poison was on one of the senbon. I inspected it when I got back, and I think I have managed to recreate it properly."

Itachi noted the finality in her voice and decided not to question her. He knew that creating poison was a feat in itself. He was also noticing how she seemed very familiar with Kiri. He stored this into the back of his mind, in the file he had stored for the pink-haired enigma.

"I better get going." Sakura said. She bowed, and turned to the door.

"See you, Itachi-san."

Itachi nodded. "Of course, Sakura-san."

* * *

**So, new chapter!**

**Just a tiny bit of Itachi x Sakura.**

**We're thinking of adding some Neji x Sakura and Shikamaru x Sakura soon!**

**More summons please.**

**Read and Review!**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Chapter THIRTEEN**_

Sakura walked along the path, lost in her own thoughts. The sky was clear, and it was the type of day where Sakura didn't feel like doing anything. Well, she always felt like that, but today, it felt stronger.

Sakura was a 'eat what you like first' type of person, no thanks to Ringo. Ringo had taken it upon herself to beat into Sakura that 'If you leave your favorites for later, you might lose it'. She glanced up at the sky. Kiri was pretty dark all day long. The sky always looked like the sun was setting, and the clouds were setting. Sakura found that she liked the blue sky and the white clouds.

She felt a chakra signature coming from below and she leaned over the bridge. A boy with black, pineapple styled hair was lying down on the grass, eyes closed. Sakura instantly recognized him as Shikamaru.

Sakura paused, and jumped down from the bridge.

_That decision was the meeting between a different two of four that would form the invincible team. Both who could see beyond others, yet pretended they couldn't, so that they wouldn't collapse under the truth._

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Shikamaru opened one eye when he heard the purposely loud footsteps. "Oh, your that new girl." He said.

Sakura nodded. "Hello, Nara-san."

Shikamaru was momentarily taken back. No one had every called him Nara-san. Shikamaru didn't know why, but he didn't like it. However, he didn't comment. "Hello, Haruno-san."

"May I join you?" Sakura asked. Shikamaru wordlessly nodded.

Sakura sat down next to him, and slowly lay down. "Do you do this everyday?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah. It's less troublesome than everything else."

Sakura smiled.

Shikamaru glanced over at the girl. This was the first time they had talked, and he decided that she wasn't like any of the annoying girls. He could sense her chakra reserves, and they were way bigger than any of the girls in the Academy, probably bigger than those of anyone their age.

He decided that he could tolerate her. "I heard that Uchiha Itachi challenged you to a fight."

Sakura sigh. "News travels fast here, doesn't it?"

Shikamaru noticed the way she had said 'here'. "You transferred here, right?"

Sakura nodded, noting Shikamaru's unasked question. She narrowed her eyes, so slightly that no one would notice. "My mother's family used to live in Konoha. My father's side, the Harunos, live spread out around the Hidden nations." She said. Unlike the others she had met, she knew Nara Shikamaru was smart, and would instantly catch on.

Shikamaru was following Sakura's train of thoughts. She must have known he would notice. Even knowing so, she had approached him. This piqued his curiosity. Why-

"I like interesting, Nara-san." Sakura said. "A life with nothing interesting going on is not a life worth living."

"We're opposites, then." Shikamaru said. "I want to live normal."

Sakura turned her head. "But the definition of normal is different from person to person."

Shikamaru sigh. "And this is getting troublesome."

Sakura laughed. "I agree, though sometimes, talks like these are also interesting."

Shikamaru knew that she was just saying that to turn his attention somewhere else, and he also guessed that she knew that he knew. She was wondering if he would press onto their previous subject or let it go.

He had a feeling that she wanted him to know, and she knew that he was more curious than he let on. She was going to make his ask. He muttered 'troublesome' under his breath, and watched Sakura's lips curl into a smirk and knew that he had made the decision she had wanted him to. She knew that he knew of her trap, and she knew that he had let himself fall into it.

They both knew that if they had wanted to, Sakura could have hidden her trap better, and that Shikamaru could have avoided it. But they hadn't.

"And, where do you come from?" He asked. "Iruka-sensei didn't tell us." He added, just for good measures.

Sakura closed her eyes. "It is not a secret." She told him. "I haven't told anyone as to not make them uncomfortable, and to also try and blend in. Where I come from, the less people knew about you, the better."

Shikamaru had his guesses on where Sakura had come from.

The look in her eyes. Her spar with Sasuke. The way she talked with cold politeness. How she was more observant than most. The way she walked, crouched, ready to move in a split second.

"You come from Kiri." He said.

Sakura nodded, a smile playing on her lips. "They told me that you were smart. I guess you are."

Shikamaru closed his eyes. "You are too." He told her.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It is."

After a while, Shikamaru noticed Sakura's slow breathing and realized that she was asleep. She was from Kiri, where people were known to choose their own lives over others in split seconds. He decided that it was nice to know that Sakura trusted him enough to let her guard down beside him.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

It was past noon when Sakura stirred. She sat up and yawned. Shikamaru was still lying where he had been before she had fallen asleep, and he opened an eye to look up at her.

"Did you have a nice nap?"

Sakura smiled. "Yes, thank you. It's been some time since I have rested so peacefully." She seemed to hesitate and Shikamaru waited patiently.

"I hear that you play Shogi?" She asked.

Shikamaru opened his other eye, interested. "Yeah..."

Sakura nodded. "Would you like to play a game with me some day?" She asked.

"You play?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura nodded. "My father...used to play with me. It's been some time since I have last played, and I have forgotten some of it and I'm sure my skill shave rusted, but it would be refreshing to play again."

Shikamaru had heard that Sakura had come to the village with her father. Her mother was dead, and from what he had just heard, her father must have died as well. He felt a pang of sympathy, but pushed it away. Sakura wasn't the type to want sympathy.

"Sure." He said. "You can come over when you feel like it."

Sakura smiled. "Thank you, Nara-san."

"Shikamaru, please." He muttered.

Sakura dipped her head. "Then please call me Sakura, Shikamaru-san."

Shikamaru smiled. "Sure, Sakura-san."

Sakura stretched. "I want to walk around a bit, to know the village better." Sakura said. "So I'll take my leave. I'll come by again whenever I have time." She stood up, and Shikamaru found himself getting up himself.

"I'll show you around." He blurted out. Sakura had a relaxing air around her, and Shikamaru didn't want to be thrown back into the troublesome world yet. He registered his words a few seconds later, but couldn't pull them back. Instead, he waited for Sakura's response.

Sakura offered him a smile. "That would be nice." She offered him her hand, remembering what Sasuke had told her. Shikamaru took it and she easily pulled him up.

Shikamaru was surprised by her strength, but decided that he shouldn't be. This was the girl that had kicked around the number one students in their class like a sack of potatoes.

"Tomatoes." Sakura said. "A sack of tomatoes." Shikamaru blinked. "You said that out loud." She added. "Besides, Sasuke-san likes tomatoes."

Shikamaru chuckled. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and mentally planned the best route to take. He then led the way up to the streets and glanced over his shoulder. "We'll start with the main streets." He told her.

Sakura nodded.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

"And this is the Nara compound." Shikamaru gestured randomly. "It's where I live."

Sakura nodded.

"Since we're here, I could just invite you in and we can have that game of Shogi, but the Yamanakas and the Akimichis are coming over for dinner." Shikamaru said. "And I could ask my father if you can tag along, but that might just be too troublesome." He yawned.

Sakura chuckled. "I could always come back at a better time, you know?" She asked.

Shikamaru nodded. "Yes, but making you come here and then send you away, only to invite you another time is even more troublesome." He decided. "So we are going to find my father." He led the way through the gates, ignoring the guards, and invited Sakura into the house.

He called a greeting to his mother, and led Sakura into the kitchen. "Mother, this is Sakura-san, one of my classmates. Sakura-san, this is my mother, Nara Yoshino. Now, lets go." He turned around, but Yoshino grabbed him before he could leave.

She kept a firm grip of Shikamaru's collar, and turned to Sakura.

"Hello, Sakura-chan." Yoshino said, smiling.

Sakura dipped her head. "Hello, Yoshino-sama. I'm very sorry for my sudden intrusion."

Yoshino shook her head. "It's okay. Don't need to call me 'sama'. Besides, it's relaxing to have another girl in the house. Shikamaru and Shikaku aren't very good company." She glared at her son, and Shikamaru sighed, muttering 'Troublesome woman' under his breath.

Yoshino sigh, and put her son down. "So, what brings you here?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head. "I was going to ask father if she can stay for the dinner tonight."

Yoshino looked surprised. "Oh?"

Shikamaru nodded. "We want to play shogi."

Yoshino sigh. "Well, I'm sure your father will say yes. It's not everyday you find an interest in something apart from clouds and shogi." She paused. "In fact, I'll come with you. He'll say yes if he knows whats good for him."

Shikamaru shrank away from the deathly aura his mother was letting out.

"That would be appreciated, Yoshino-san." Sakura said, bowing.

"Yup, I like you." Yoshino beamed. "You should definitely stay." She said, and walked out of the kitchen. Shikamaru followed, and Sakura stepped in behind him.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

There was a knock on the door, and Nara Shikaku looked up from his paper work. He sensed his wife's chakra, along with his son's, and one other."

"Shikaku?" Yoshino asked.

"Come in." Shikaku called.

Yoshino opened the door, and stepped in. Shikamaru and a girl followed her.

"Anata, this is Sakura-chan. She's Shikamaru's classmate." Yoshino said. "Sakura-chan, this is my husband and the head of the Nara clan, Shikaku."

The girl, Sakura, dipped her head. "Hello, Nara-sama."

Shikaku nodded in approval. "Hello, Sakura-san." He turned to his wife.

"She can stay over for the dinner, right?" Yoshino asked. "Shikamaru seems to have taken a liking for her, and they want to play shogi."

Shikaku raised an eyebrow. "Well, I don't really mind."

Shikamaru dipped his head. "Thank you, father." Sakura followed.

Shikaku chuckled. "No problem. Now, get out. I have paperwork to finish by dinner."

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

"You do know that Ino-san hates me, right?" Sakura asked Shikamaru, who shrug.

Yoshino paused. "Why's that?" She asked.

"Sakura-san is Sasuke's childhood friend or something. She also beat Sasuke in out spars yesterday." Shikamaru said.

Yoshino smiled. "You transferred over, right?"

Sakura nodded.

Yoshino glanced at the clock. "Oh, look at the time." She exclaimed. "I have to go prepare dinner." She darted off.

"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru sigh. He led the way to his room. He opened the door and gestured for Sakura to enter.

Shikamaru's room was rather plain, with nothing particular in sight. Shikamaru reached for his bookshelf and tossed Sakura a book. "You said you haven't played for a while. Read through the first few pages. It's the basic rules and stuff." He told her, and then turned to his cupboard. He took out his shogi board and the case holding the pieces.

He set up one side, and glanced at Sakura, who was still reading the book. Shikamaru turned the board around and set up the other side. He glanced up again. Sakura was still reading. He glanced at the book and noticed that the girl was already halfway done. He opened his mouth, and closed it again.

He sigh, and decided to wait.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

After a few more minutes, Sakura snapped the book shut. "I'm done."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "The first few pages-"

"Were the rules." Sakura finished. "I read the rest just for the sake of it. I've memorized the whole thing. Did you wait?"

"The whole thing?" Shikamaru asked, and quickly shook his head. "It's fine. You were very quick."

Sakura smiled. "Why don't we start, then?"

* * *

**Here's chapter thirteen!**

**Were the characters OOC? We don't exactly know Nara Yoshino's character, so she may have been more out-of-character than the others, so tell us if she is, okay?**

**We know that we've updated very early, but we just had to.**

**Who read the newest, and the last, chapter of Naruto?**

**If you have, read on. If you haven't stop here cause...SPOILER ALERT!**

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**Sasuke and Sakura ended up together?!**

**We mean, Sasuke never actually hinted that he liked her. **

**We're happy with Naruhina and Shikatema.**

**SaiIno is also okay. We sort of expected that _if_ Sakura and Sauske ended up together. Never thought they would, though.**

**Wonder who's the new green spandex is. Lee's son? Then who's the mother? Tenten!?**

**Gaara's hair looks so weird now. No wonder he's single! **

**(_Darque: Not that I mind. Still, this is why I love Sasori. He'll look hot and cute forever. If he was alive._)  
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**If we continue this, we'll rant forever, so we'll stop here.**

**If anyone would like to join us, feel free to review or PM us, and we can rant together ;P**

**Bai~**


	14. Chapter 14

**REQUESTS FOR THE SUMMONS HAVE ENDED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP. WE HAVE ENOUGH TO GIVE EACH CHARACTER FIVE SUMMONS ;P. OKAY, MAYBE NOT, BUT YOU GET THE POINT.**

_**Chapter FOURTEEN**_

The Yamanakas and the Akimichis soon arrived at the Nara compound. They called out greetings and the three clan heads gathered around a table while their wives went to prepare dinner. The children, including Choji and Ino, ran off to do whatever they usually did.

"Where's Shikamaru-kun?" Inoichi asked.

Shikaku sighed. "His friend came over earlier, and they've been stuck in a game of shogi ever since. They should come down soon."

"Friend?" Choza asked.

"Haruno Sakura. She's the new transfer student." Shikaku said.

"Sakura? The daughter of the ANBU that was killed by Orochimaru?" Inoichi asked, then lowered his voice. "The one from Kiri?"

Shikaku nodded. "Only a limited number of people know that part."

"Choji told me that she beat Sasuke in a spar." Choza said.

Shikaku raised an eyebrow. "Really? Sasuke's pretty good for his age."

"What do you think. His brother is a prodigy, a Chunin aiming for ANBU. I heard that he took the ANBU exams recently, and is waiting for the results." Choza said.

"Must be why Ino doesn't seem to like her." Inoichi chuckled.

The food was served, and Shikamaru and Sakura still didn't come down.

"Shikaku-ojisan, where's Shikamaru?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru sighed again. "He's in his room, playing shogi."

Choji approached them as well. "Really? With who?"

Shikaku glanced at Ino. "Haruno Sakura."

Ino's face twisted. "Oh, _her._"

"Haruno Sakura, the new girl?" Choji asked.

Ino nodded. "She hurt Sasuke-kun!" She stormed off and Choji followed her.

Yoshino came over. "Are they still up stairs?" She asked. Shikaku nodded. "I'll go get them." Yoshino said, and left.

"She's very polite, and not as troublesome as I thought." Shikaku told the other two clan head.

"Well, that's expected. Shikamaru-kun doesn't like to hang out with troublesome people." Choza chuckled

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Sakura followed Shikamaru the stairs. She had lost their first game, but had won their second. They had been in the middle of their third when Yoshino had called them down. Apparently, dinner had started.

"I'll introduce you to the other clan heads." Shikamaru said. "And after dinner, if we have time, we can finish our game."

Sakura nodded.

Many eyes turned to them when they appeared at the door way.

Shikamaru sauntered over to a table, where his father sat with two other people.

"Hello, father, Inoichi-san, Choza-san." Shikamaru greeted, trying to suppress a yawn. "This is Sakura-san." He continued.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, the way she did when she was trying to remember something, or if she was thinking. "Nice to meet you, Yamanaka-sama, Akimichi-sama." She bowed.

Inoichi chucked. "Likewise, Sakura-san."

Choza nodded. "Enjoy the food, it's delicious."

Sakura nodded, and Shikamaru tugged to towards a empty patch of grass. He lay down and Sakura followed suit.

"They seem to be getting along pretty well." Choza commented. Shikaku nodded.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

"It's a fox."

"No, it's a cat."

"It's a fox."

"Cat."

"Fox."

"Cat."

Shikamaru sigh. "How does that look like a cat?" He eyed the cloud they were currently arguing about.

Sakura pointed at said cloud. "That's the head, and that's the tail..."

"That could go for the fox." Shikamaru said.

"It's a cat." Sakura insisted. She crossed her arms.

"Fine." Shikamaru said. 'It's not.' His mind told him, but he pushed it away. This was getting troublesome.

Sakura offered him a small grin, and Shikamaru decided that he liked that expression more than her usual I'm-watching-you-and-the-moment-I-decide-that-I-don't-trust-you,-I-will-kill-you look.

"Tomorrow, we have to work in pairs, right?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura nodded.

"If we can, do you want to...pair up?" He bit his tongue. Why had he asked that?

Sakura looked at his thoughtfully. "Sure." She said. "Depending on how things go, I think we'll be a pretty good pair."

Shikamaru smirked, and closed his eyes. "I just hope the two idiots wont kill me."

"Sasuke-san and Naruto-san?" Sakura asked.

Shikamaru nodded.

"You'll be fine." Sakura said.

Shikamaru wondered how this was going to work out. The laziest student in the Academy teamed up with the new seeming genius.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Iruka glanced over the students. He called out the register, noting that Sakura and Shikamaru weren't there. Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other. The blonde opened his mouth, but the sound of the door opening beat him to it.

"Then theoretically, it should be possible that transferring ones chakra into another would allow them to use the affinity that is transferred, right?" Sakura asked.

Shikamaru nodded. "That's theoretically, though. I think it would depend on the receiver's chakra control, as well as their original affinity, as some affinities are opposites and don't blend very well."

"Then what if..."

Sakura and Shikamaru walked up to their desks, and sat down. Shikamaru turned around in his seat to face Sakura, who sat behind him, and they continued talking as if no one else existed.

Iruka, though fascinated, attempted to get them to pay attention a few times, and finally gave up. He turned to the rest of the class and began talking about the importance of hand sighs.

"After break, we will start with the coordination stuff." He said. "So please come to the gym." He glanced at Sakura and Shikamaru, who were still locked deep in their conversation.

"...because, even though good Genjutsu users could defend themselves while keeping control over their Genjutsu, it will save stamina and chakra if there were teammates to support the caster." Sakura was saying.

"It also depends on the type of Genjutsu." Shikamaru said. "Some Genjutsu can be cast through touch and other can be simply cast though eye contact while..." He trailed off, looking thoughtful. "Is it possible to implant latent Genjutsus that are activated when something specific happens?" He asked.

"Like a trap of sorts?" Sakura asked. Without looking up, both of them stood as the rest of the class did. Shooting the two weird looks, their classmates began heading off to break.

Sasuke and Naruto hovered over the two, unsure of what to do. If Iruka were in their position, he would be too. After all, it wasn't everyday two Academy students talked about 'Chakra transfer and how the affinity might affect it' or 'If it were possible to cast latent Genjutsu'. When he was their age, he probably didn't know what 'latent' meant.

Feeling slightly sorry, though he didn't know the feeling was directed to, he stepped up to Sasuke and Naruto. "Well, why don't you to go ahead, and when they're done, I'm sure they'll catch up." He said.

Naruto's eyes lit up, and before the Uchiha could complain, the blonde dragged him off.

Sakura and Shikamaru didn't even seem to notice. Iruka sigh, and left them to their...conversation.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

After break, the students gathered in the gym. Sakura and Shikamaru stood in the corner, whispering at each other.

Iruka cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention. "Now, we're going to start off with simple two on two spars." He said. "Then we will talk about the things you noticed, and how you can improve. Then we'll go back to the spars. The ones who had won their match will move up"-He pointed towards the back of the gym-"And the ones who lose will move down."

"As for the pairs-"

At once, girls swarmed Sasuke.

Iruka quickly cleared his throat. "_I_ will put you into them." He said.

The girls groaned, but Iruka ignored them. He randomly paired people together. He hesitated next to Sasuke and Naruto, but ended up pairing them together. It could be a good experience for them.

He stopped in front of the talking pair, who were now arguing about a Fuinnjutsu. He patiently waited as they stopped and looked up. "You two are together." He said. He turned and left.

Sakura and Shikamaru blinked at each other. "Together for what?" Shikamaru asked.

"The two on two spar." Sakura said.

"You were listening to him?" Shikamaru asked. Sakura nodded. "This is so troublesome."

"At least we did get paired together." Sakura said. "I think I'll find this interesting."

"And there it goes. Haruno Sakura's 'interesting'. How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

"In this spar, you are allowed to use all the skills you know, but if anything gets out of hand, I _will_ stop you. Nothing that will fatally hurt your opponents. Nothing that will kill your opponents either. Don't forget, this is to see how well you can work with others." Iruka said.

Shikamaru sigh.

"How do you win?" Ino asked.

"You win if your opponent gives up." Iruka said.

Sakura elbowed Shikamaru, and he winced. Sakura repeated her actions, and Shikamaru jumped away from her. "Calm down, troublesome woman." He muttered. "Iruka-sensei, do both opponents have to give up?" He asked.

Iruka nodded. "Once one person gives up, they can't re-enter the fight." He walked around the class, putting pairs with others.

"Okay, Shikamaru, Sakura with Ami and Kasumi." Iruka said. "Kiba and Hinata with..."

Ami and Kasumi stomped up to the two. "We're so going to beat you." Ami boasted. "I'll punch you _so_ hard you'll go crying."

Kashumi nodded. "You'll pay for what you did to Sasuke-kun."

"Revealing information is the most simplest mistake anyone can make during battle." Sakura muttered.

Ami raised her hand. "Iruka-sensei! Iruka-sensei! Do we get a prize if we win?"

Iruka turned to her. "A prize? How about some sweets?" He asked.

Sakura blinked, and turned to Shikamaru. "Isn't that called bribing?" She asked. Shikamaru shrug.

"Is that allowed?"

Shikamaru shrug again. "I guess."

"If we manage to win, I'll go cloud watching with you anytime, as long as I'm free." Sakura murmured.

Shikamaru turned to her. "Really?" Sakura nodded. "Deal."

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Iruka positioned himself so that he could watch Sakura and Shikamaru's match. Shikamaru looked far less bored than usual, and Sakura's eyes were glinting as they discussed something.

"Ready, set, Go!"

Most of the pairs stood where they were.

Sakura flew forward, smashing her elbow against Kasumi's face. Kasumi cried out, and crumbled onto the floor, holding her cheek, which was rapidly turning purple. Sakura kicked her to the side.

Ami yelped, and quickly took a few steps backwards. "W-What are you doing?" She gasped.

"I'm fighting." Sakura said. "I though you were going to punch my face so hard that I was going to cry?" She asked.

She seemed to disappear, and Ami looked around frantically. Sakura appeared behind her, a familiar looking black chain in her hands. Shikamaru recognized it to be from her tonfas. Sakura gripped each end with her hands and wrapped the chain around Ami's neck. "Give up." She murmured.

Ami coughed, trying to breath.

"Give up." Sakura repeated, she tightened the grip on her chains, so hard that her hands were shaking.

Iruka stepped forward in panic, but Shikamaru stopped him. "She isn't choking her that hard." He said. "It's just an act."

Iruka stopped, and noted that Shikamaru was correct.

"It's for our next opponents." Shikamaru added, yawning. "If they're scared of us, they might give up more quickly."

"I-I give up." Ami choked out.

Sakura smirked. "Good girl." She said mockingly, letting go. "You didn't do anything. You finish it." She muttered.

Shikamaru sighed and stuck his hands into his pockets. He walked up to Kasumi and nudged her with his foot. "Are you still going to fight?" He asked.

Kasumi rapidly shook her head. "I give up."

"Woohoo, we win!" Shikamaru said sarcastically.

Sakura rubbed her elbow. "How hard is her face?" She grumbled.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

"This is supposed to be a two on two fight." Sakura said. "You just stood there."

"Hey! You can't blame me if I wanted to avoid being knocked in the face. You fight like a banshee."

"Banshees scream." Sakura retorted. "Plus, that battle was boring. I wanna fight someone more...interesting."

Shikamaru snorted. They moved across one field, and came face to face with some people Sakura didn't know. Well, it didn't matter much anyways.

"So, who likes purple makeup?" She asked.

* * *

**Okay. These are a bunch of fillers. We wanted to build up Sakura's reputation and get her (sort of) bipolar personality known. (Like, half-cold Sakura, other half-Ringo, Inner like Sakura.)**

**We think we'll skip a year or two in one of the next few chapters. **

**We're very excited about the mission to Wave, cause in a way, Sakura and Haku are similar. **

**Anyways, read and review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**The summon appearing in the coming chapter is a mash up between two ideas. They were very similar and we thought, why not? **

**Thanks to ChaserJohnDoe (GUEST) and cici287 for their ideas. **

**We're sorry if you guys don't appreciate the mash up... **

_**Chapter FIFTEEN**_

Sakura walked down the street, reading a scroll. She nodded greetings to some of the civilians, and waved at others. She was now ten, and it had been two and a half years since she had returned to Konoha.

After her meeting with Akasuna no Sasori, she had done some research. It had seemed like he was giving her a hint, and she had been curious. She had begun self teaching herself how to use chakra strings, and was quite proud of her achievements so far.

She had kept up her new,-now it was pretty old-hobby of cloud watching with Shikamaru. She still hadn't had the promised spar with Itachi, but the Uchiha had been busy. He had passed the ANBU exams and had become the captain of his team around two years ago, at the age of thirteen.

She had no particular destination in mind when she had bumped into him. She glanced up from her scroll. Had she seen him somewhere? She shrug, muttered a quick "My apologies." and slipped past the boy.

She must have been buried very deep in her thoughts, as she hadn't noticed the sharp contrast of black hair against white robes, pale skin, and pearl white eyes.

_The awkward__ meeting between the the final two, who's eyes were clouded with hatred? revenge? and not knowing where to pin the blame. _

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . **

Neji Hyuga had been enjoying the morning breeze when the pink haired girl had run into him. He was the prodigy of the Hyuga branch family and was very surprised, and pretty annoyed, when the girl quickly walked past him.

After she had long gone did he realize that there was only one person in the whole entire village with pink hair. And that was the pretty well known prodigy who was studying in the Academy. Neji had heard from his uncle that the girl had rejected the offer to graduate early, and he wondered why someone would do something like that. At the age of twelve, he had become a Genin just recently, and had been put on a team with Tenten and Lee with Guy as their Jounin teacher.

Not knowing why, he chased after her, and ended up in one of the training ground. People had dubbed it the Cherry's ground, and most people avoided it. He had heard that the Hokage needed to have it repaired every week. Now he knew why.

The earth was smashed, with fissures running through it. There was a lake- which shouldn't even be there - located at the far side, and the earth had been torn up where trees should have been growing.

He scanned his eyes over the area, but couldn't find anything. He activated his Byakugan, and immediately sensed a chakra signal from the (man-made) lake. He cautiously approached it, and realized that the chakra signature wan't coming from a human shaped object.

Before he could do anything, there was a faint splash, and the girl from before erupted out of the water. She held a pair of black tonfas in her hands and with his Byakugan, Neji could see that there was chakra running through it. There was only a pulse of chakra as a warning before chains appeared out of the tips.

The spikes at the edge left a small cut on his cheek, before he managed to jump away. The girl stood in front of him, tonfas braced. What surprised him was that she didn't seem wet at all.

"What do you want?" The girl asked.

Neji narrowed his eyes. "Nothing, really." He said. "You bumped into me." He added like a second thought.

The girl glared back. "I believe I apologized."

Neji knew that. "Oh, I didn't hear it."

After that, they stood there, looking at each. When it seemed like the silence was never going to end a voice interrupted them.

"Neji!" Both prodigies looked up towards the entrance of the Training grounds. A girl with her hair in buns and a boy clad in a green jumpsuit stood at the steps, waving. The two jumped down to the training grounds and approached them. Neji took a few steps back so that he stood, flanked by his teammates.

"What may I do for you?" Sakura asked.

Tenten blinked. "Oh, I know you!" She said. "You're that Sakura girl."

The girl, Sakura sigh. "Yes, I am Sakura. And you are?"

Tenten smiled. "I'm Tenten, and this is Lee. That guy, in case you didn't know, is Neji."

"Neji..Neji..." Sakura muttered. "I've heard that name somewhere...Ah! you look like Hinata-san! That's why I though I've seen you before. You're the Hyuga prodigy." She nodded to herself.

"Well, Neji-san, Tenten-san, Lee-san, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Sakura dipped her head. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a certain cloud watching idiot waiting for me."

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

"Sakura?" Shikamaru asked. "Did I do something to make you angry?"

Sakura blinked, and turned to look at him. "No, why?"

Shikamaru sigh. "Because all of a sudden, it seems like we have more people in our cloud watching club." He glanced pointedly at the three Genin of team Guy, who were sitting under a tree a few feet away. Tenten and Lee were talking about something while Neji was glaring at the two lying down in the grass. In other words, them.

"They just followed me." Sakura said. "Besides, I do not remember you telling me that only we were allowed."

Shikamaru sighed again. "Then, did you do something to make the Hyuga highness angry?"

Sakura shrug. "I really do not know."

Shikamaru sighed for the third time. Sakura was _very_ antisocial, and even after years living in bright and warm Konoha, she was very awkward in crowds. He wouldn't have been surprised if her lack of speech made someone who didn't know her not know what to think, but this was _Hyuga Neji_. He probably was as antisocial as Sakura._  
_

Shikamaru leaned back on his arms and closed his eyes, hoping that his day would not get worse.

Of course, wishes like that get jinxed, often, in Shikamaru's case.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

"Sakura!"

Said person, her cloud watching partner, the Hyuga prodigy, his female teammate, and his green friend, all looked up towards the source of the voice.

Uchiha Sasuke stood on the bridge, Itachi standing behind him.

Sakura sat up. "Hello, Sasuke-san, Itachi-san."

Sasuke glared at the pinkette's companions and jumped down the bridge. Itachi raised his hand as his brother disappeared over the edge. The Uchiha prodigy sigh, and jumped off after him.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked.

"I am playing my part as one of the two members in the cloud watching club." She said. She blinked at the look everyone shot her and she sigh. "And I believe that is what you call a joke."

Shikamaru breathed in sharply. "Wait, a joke?"

Sasuke looked equally shocked. "You made a joke?" He asked. "Since when did you know how to make jokes?"

Sakura gasped mockingly. "Of course I know. I haven't read the jokes and pranks books you and Naruto-san forced me to read for nothing."

Sasuke groaned. "That was a mistake." He said.

"Why?" Tenten called out.

"Sakura-san has an incredible memory. Once she reads something, she remembers it. Now neither Naruto nor my foolish little brother can play the jokes on her." The older Uchiha brother eyed Neji, who glared back without flinching.

"Everything you hope not to happen happens." Sakura whispered to Shikamaru, who sighed. "Just guessed what you were thinking." She added.

Shikamaru had to admit, Sakura had become way more approachable compared to her first year in Konoha. Sasuke's fan-girls still seemed to annoy her, but she usually brushed them off like nothing. Shikamaru heard that she was beginning to get harassed by Itachi's fan-girls as well, and felt slightly sorry for the girl. She had expanded her friendship circle from only Sasuke and Naruto, and now it included him and Hinata, the Hyuga heiress. Which he thought was a pretty good accomplishment.

The sound of a bell seemed to echo around the area. Sakura slowly sat up, looking around. Or was it just her?

"What?" Shikamaru asked.

So it was just her.

"Nothing. Just thought I heard something."

Shikamaru slowly nodded. He warily eyed Itachi and Sasuke's glaring contest with Neji. "And these kind of things tend to explode in your face." He muttered.

Sakura nodded. "They do." She agreed.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Sakura made her way home, jumping from roof to roof. Luckily, Itachi had seen sense and after a a brief apology, had dragged a fuming Sasuke back home. Neji's smirk didn't help the situation at all.

Sakura stopped on a roof, and turned her head to the side. There it was again! Now she was sure it hadn't been just her imagination.

A faint sound of a bell.

Sakura jumped down from the roof. She made her way towards an alley, following the sound of the bell.

A pair of purple eyes blinked up at her.

******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Sakura didn't know how one gained a summoning contract. Were the summons supposed to come looking of their people they wished to become their summoners? She didn't think so.

After freaking out a little, she had sat down, and had listened to the summon's story.

Yoru was a black cat. She had striking purple eyes and pure, jet black fur. Sakura had patiently listened as Yoru gave her a brief explanation of her past. A _brief _explanation that had Sakura half asleep by the end. Yoru talked about how this was her first time signing a contract and how excited she was. But then she began going on about how that would only happen if Sakura signed a contract with her. It was confusing, really.

Sakura finally managed to cut in and she gently told the cat that she would accept the contract offer. Yoru purred, and before Sakura could react, placed a paw over the bandages wrapped around her right wrist. There was a tingling feeling, before it vanished almost as soon as it had appeared. Yoru bared her teeth in what seemed like a cat grin before she disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving behind Sakura, whose brain was still short circuiting.

Nonetheless, she had gained a summon, an extra ornament on her summoning tattoo, and a whole lot more questions with no answers.

_**********. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

Sakura entered the classroom, nose buried in the bandages around her neck. She had bought new ones, and had decided to keep Ringo's in a box back at her house. She didn't want to end up dirtying it.

She sat down on her seat, by Sasuke and Naruto. She nodded at the two in greeting and nodded at Shikamaru, before yawning and leaning her head against her desk. She earned herself a bunch of glares, but none of the fan-girls moved. Iruka had just stepped through the doors.

**__********. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Sakura waited at the Academy gates. Itachi stood next to her. he had a free day, and had insisted on coming to pick up his brother. Sasuke and Naruto were getting an earful from Iruka for starting a fight in the middle of class.

Itachi finally voiced a question which had been bothering him for as long as he could remember. He had been thinking. Her relationship with the Hozuki. The Kirigakure kunai. Her aloofness.

"Sakura-san, what is your relationship with Kirigakure?" He asked.

Sakura smiled. "That is for me to know and you to find out." She teased. "I shall tell everything you want to know when you beat me in our spar." She was tired of keeping everything to herself, and they knew it.

Itachi noticed the way she had said 'when' instead of 'if'. So, she knew that even with her seemingly improved skills, she wasn't in par with him. Itachi felt slightly relieved. What would his fellow shinobi think if he, Uchiha Itachi, an ANBU captain, lost to an Academy student?

"Of course." He smiled back. "How about in two days?" He asked. "Time to get ready."

"Training ground 4. My training ground." Sakura said. "Hokage-sama has taken it upon himself to have it fixed every week."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Oh, aren't we confident?"

"I may not be able to beat you, but one day, I will. And for now, I will make you go full out." Sakura replied.

When Naruto and Sasuke came back from wherever they had been, they found the prodigy of Uchiha clan and the rumored pink haired prodigy releasing killing intents, smirks plastered onto their faces as they stared at each other.

Being scared out of their minds was an understatement.

* * *

**:D:D:D**

**This is a filler, we guess, apart from some of the parts.**

**We're finally here. We couldn't wait to write this part. We're still waiting for the mission to Wave, but that a few more chapters ahead. **

**Tell us if you liked it, okay?**

**Read and Review!**


	16. Chapter 16

_**Chapter SIXTEEN**_

Rumors travel faster most things Sakura had seen in Konoha. She was making a detour to the memorial, and people were already headed towards their sparing location.

She shrug to herself and crouched in front of the stone.

春野 村崎 (Haruno Murasaki)

焔魔堂 江 (Enmadou Gou)

Her mother had been sent back to Konoha. Her father had soon joined her, leaving Sakura behind. She quickly cleared her thoughts.

She traced the names of her parents and gave them a brief report on what was going on. By the time she had reached her newly renovated training grounds, people were gathered.

How did they know about it? Sakura was pretty sure that no one had been around when they had talked about it.

For once, training ground 4, her training ground, was surrounded by people. People who had usually avoided it were now all over the place.

Itachi wasn't there yet, but it was still early. During the last few days, Sakura had polished up on her chakra strings, and has sharpened all her weapons. She wasn't going to try and avoid using Kiba, but it was still with her. She liked the feeling of Ringo watching over her, ready to sneer at the Uchiha prodigy's pretty face. She had eaten an apple for breakfast, as a joke and as something for luck.

She looked up when she felt a shift in the air. Itachi arrived a few seconds later in a puff of smoke.

_******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

There was no voiced interaction between the two. They nodded politely at each other, in greeting and in acknowledgement, before taking opposite sides. Sakura didn't like the way their audience pretended to be doing something, but was actually watching them.

Sasuke and Naruto sat at the edge of the training grounds. Shikamaru was seated close by with Hinata, and the Genin of team Guy were also there.

Sakura's insides felt like they were burning. Her heart was racing and she was seeing red.

_Blood._

She bared her teeth. Itachi nodded for her to start anytime she wanted.

_Win_.

She knew she couldn't win. Itachi wasn't an ANBU captain for no reason, but still.

_'Never let anything or anyone get in the way of what you want'_

She flew forwards.

_****__******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

Sakura ducked to dodge several kunai. When she looked up, Itachi was gone. The fight had only started a minute ago, but she was already excited to the point she was worried she might hyperventilate.

_Itachi wasn't taking her seriously._

Sakura gritted her teeth. She felt a shift in the air behind her, and turned just in time to see Itachi's kunai jab at her side. She didn't have time to react, and the metal blade buried itself deep into her side.

Gasps of alarm were heard, but Sakura smirked.

The only sign that Itachi was surprised was the slight widening of his eyes.

Water splattered against the ground. Itachi watched, slightly curious, as the water brought itself together, once again forming Sakura. "That was close."

Her hand twitched towards her Kiba scroll. She scowled, and pulled her hand away.

Itachi blinked at her, and revealed his Sharingan.

_Like a true Uchiha, revealing his Sharingan in the middle of the battle. _That was Sakura's last thought as she was dragged into a gen-jutsu.

_****__****__******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

"What are you doing?"

"Here, we can fight full out. You can pull out whatever secret weapon you have been itching for." Itachi smirked. "Our audience wont see anything."

Sakura smirked back. Itachi felt a second presence bloom somewhere. He stiffened.

"Usually, I would have just booted you out of my mind, but since this is, to some extent, an advantage for me, I shall let you stay here." There was a hint of finality in her voice and the second presence melted away.

She pulled out a scroll and bit her thumb. "Kiba."

The twin swords appeared in her hands. The blades glinted in the gen-jutsu sunlight. She charged chakra into the blade and they lightning burst out with cackling sounds, glowing a beautiful shade of blue.

Itachi looked impressed. "What is that?"

Sakura gripped the handles. "This is Kiba." She replied curtly.

"How about this? If I win, you will tell me everything. However, if you manage to land a few hits on me, I will do one thing you say?" A playful look, something Sakura had never seen on Itachi, appeared on the older Uchiha's face.

"Sure." Sakura smirked. "Sounds interesting."

"Let's continue."

_****__****__****__******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

Heavy breathing filled the air. Sakura lay on the ground, panting like never before.

She was tired, and her blood lust had been spent. Her arms felt like jelly and her legs couldn't support her, but she was proud of herself. Who wouldn't be, if they had managed to injure the Uchiha prodigy's right arm, and fry his hair.

Out of the hundreds of raito-jutsu she had used, only a few had managed to hit it's mark, and they had been rough scrapes, but she felt satisfied when she looked up at Itachi's standing hair. Said Uchiha was running one hand through his hair, a rare look a agitation on his face. The other was holding a kunai to her neck. Not that Sakura was going to try and escape.

"Give?" Itachi asked.

Sakura nodded.

Itachi slowly drew back, and leaned back on his hands. Sakura was impressed. No matter how tired he seemed, he still managed to hold up the gen-jutsu.

"I did go full out." Itachi told her, answering her unvoiced question. Sakura smiled. "And you've earned a prize."

"You shall be my errand boy for a year." Sakura said. Itachi turned to her. "Okay, a month?"

Itachi smirked. "A year is fine." He said. "As I have a feeling that you like to do things yourself rather than depend on someone."

Sakura grinned. "Okay, first, you need to walk home with that mess of a hair." Sakura said. "No hiding it with a gen-jutsu."

Itachi blinked, but nodded. Sakura shifted around and lay down. "That was actually really...fun." She closed her eyes, and the world around her slowly turned to darkness..

_****__****__****__****__******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

To the audience, it had seemed like they had just stood there. Soon, one of Itachi's teammates had suggested that it was an gen-jutsu, which explained the situation. Sasuke and Naruto had freaked out.

The moment the gen-jutsu had broken, they had rushed forwards. Sakura lay on the ground with her head in Itachi's lap. Said Uchiha was leaning back on his hands, eyes closed. At the sound of footsteps, he slowly opened an eye. Naruto and Sasuke were crouched at his side in an instant. Everything was quiet, no one wanting to be the one to break the silence.

"Who won?" Shikamaru finally voiced the question they had all been wanting to ask.

"I did." Itachi told him curtly. "However, I do believe that Sakura-san will grow into a very powerful kunoichi."

Sasuke smirked, and lowered his head. "Hey. Sakura."

Sakura groaned, and moved. She winced in pain, her hand flying to her side, where Itachi had managed to land a nasty kick. She waved away the concerns of her friends, and pulled herself up into a sitting position.

Hinata was at her side, fluttering her hands around in worry. "Sa-sakura-chan..."

"I'm fine." Sakura told her. "Please do not worry."

"We can all go back to the compound, right?" Sasuke asked. Itachi nodded.

"I-I would like to come as well!" Hinata burst out, then quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. "I...I mean...I'm sorry-"

Itachi cut her off. "You can come." He told her. "However, from your father-"

"I won't tell him." Hitana said firmly. "Neji-nii-san has a mission from noon, and wont be around."

_****__****__****__****__******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

A couple of minutes later, Itachi had gotten to his feet.

Sakura followed suit and they slowly made their way back. The people who had been watching wordlessly parted, but Sakura could already hear the rumors and the stories being made up. Sasuke insisted on supporting Itachi, who complied more for the sake of his brother than himself.

Hinata helped Sakura, apologizing every time the pinkette winced. Naruto just tagged along, voicing concerns once in a while.

"Nice hair, Itachi-san." Sakura said, and winced at the pain at her side.

Itachi's hand flew to his hair, as if he had forgotten about it. That must have been why people kept looking at them.

"Yeah, what happened to it?" Sasuke asked, trying to hold back a laugh.

"I was fried." Itachi said, looking serious. "And I was told to keep it this way on our way back to the compound."

Sasuke caught Sakura's smirk, and a smile bloomed on his face. "I think you should keep it that way from now on."

Itachi was sure that his right arm was dislocated. If it wasn't, he would have poked his brother's forehead, hard enough to leave a mark.

_****__****__****__****__****__******. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

"So-sorry." Hinata stuttered.

Sakura shook her head. "It's okay. Don't worry." She winced again as Hinata wrapped the bandages around her leg, where a gash had formed due to roughly skidding across the rocky floor、after Itachi had thrown her.

Itachi had set his arm earlier, and had wrapped it for the day, so he did not make it worse.

They spent the rest of the day there, being fussed around by the others.

The sun had begun to set when Hinata and Naruto went home. Sasuke finally agreed to go to bed, leaving his brother and Sakura in the living room.

"My question?" Itachi asked.

Sakura turned to him. "Ah, yes." She smiled nostalgically.

"I was born in Kiri. My father was a Kirigakure shinobi while my mother came from Konoha. They met when my mother escorted some important person to Kiri, and she later moved there when they decided to get married."

"I grew up in Kirigakure. My mother was killed when I was three and I was trained by my father from a very young age. Unlike the Hozuki, the Haruno weren't loyal to any village above the point that we live in their land."

Itachi opened his mouth, but Sakura cut him off. "Let me finish. You can ask questions afterwards."

"My father decided to move to Konoha. My mother's family, as well as the Hokage, welcomed us. At four, my father died on mission by the hands of the snake-sanin."

"I had a teacher back in Kirigakure. Her name was Ameyuri Ringo, and as you probably know her, she was a part of the Seven Swordsmen of the mist. She had promised to come pick me up for some training when I reached the age of six. That is what I left for."

"Ringo was dying. She had planned everything knowing so. In our final battle, after I beat her, she gave me Kiba."

"Ringo had given me some instructions, and I followed them. I went back to Kirigakure, where I was placed under the care of the Hozuki. There I learnt that the Haruno clan was the sister clan of the Hozuki clan. The technique which I used to turn into water is the Haruno version of the Hozuki's famed Suika no jutsu."

"I left after a while, and went to Suna, where a few of my family live. I spent some time there, and then came back." She paused. "I think that is about it."

Itachi slowly nodded, wondering if he was regretting asking about it or not. Now, he knew about where her personality and her attitude had come from. He saw that Sakura's eyes were hard, not an ounce of emotion leaking out. He now knew that that was also related to her past.

Itachi dipped his head. "Thank you for telling me, Sakura-san." He hesitated. "If there is anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask me." He wondered if he had said the right thing, but his question was answered a second later.

The rewarding smile Sakura sent his way told him enough.

**____********. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Sakura looked up from her book to the hand gripping a scroll. She then glanced up at the owner of said scroll.

Neji looked away, not meeting her gaze. Instead, he shoved the scroll at her. "We went to Suna on our latest mission." He said. "You seemed pretty interested in chakra strings and I found a scroll on them so..." He trailed off and his eyes hardened. "Just take it."

Sakura slowly took it. "Thank you." Neji was gone before she could blink.

* * *

**So, some Itachi x Sakura and a tiny bit of Neji x Sakura. There'll (probably) be some more in the next chapter.**

**Any other pairings you'd like to see?**

**Leave us a review or a PM and we'll see what we can do.**

**Read and Review!**


	17. Chapter 17

_**Chapter SEVENTEEN**_

Hyuga Neji had never felt so annoyed in his life. It just wasn't fair. How could a single girl with strange pink haired girl have the ability to make him feel stupid without even trying?

That was a question he asked himself a lot when he hung out with said pink haired girl.

They had officially met at a dango shop a few weeks after Sakura's match with Itachi. Neji had been thoroughly impressed with the spar. Not that he was going to tell her that.

Ever since, he had found himself hanging out with Sakura and the lazy Nara, watching clouds, something he would never have thought of a week ago.

There was a few things he had learned about the girl, but one thing shown out above the rest.

Sakura had a very complicated mind. She could think in layers, and of many things at a time. She could see underneath the underneath, and could act according to everything she knew.

However, she was also very straightforward when she wanted to be. She sees blade, she picks up blade. She seen enemy, she cuts them up.

It was simple and that was how she liked it. After all, simple didn't always mean boring. Sakura _lived_ for interesting.

* * *

Sakura found herself looking into Neji's white eyes. If he had noticed, he didn't say anything. For that, Sakura was grateful.

"Byakugan. Allows the user to see chakra..." Sakura began voicing what she had read in a simple textbook. She paused once in a while to think over her words before continuing. Words poured out from where they had been etched into her memory

Beside her, Neji was seriously freaking out. However, he stayed rooted to the spot.

"I guess it is a useful Kekkei Genkai to have." Sakura concluded.

Neji suddenly felt curioums. "Sakura-san, do you have a Kekkei Genkai?" He asked, then cursed himself for the sudden question.

Sakura slowly nodded. "Yes." She replied. Neji decided to leave it at that, but Sakura began to speak.

"However, I haven't activated yet. My Kekkei Genkai comes from my mother's clan, the Enmadou clan. Our Kekkei Genkai, Soul release, allows us to house more than one spirit in our minds. Those with the Enmadou blood activates something like a pre-stage at birth, where our split personality is born. The rest activates in a moment of distress, but its strength depends on the user."

Neji opened his mouth, but Sakura answered his question before he cold even voice it.

"I do not know what our Kekkei Genkai is like after it is activated." She said apologetically. "However, I do know that it is a very rare technique these days."

Neji nodded. "I thought so. After all, I haven't heard of Soul release."

Sakura shrug. "I doubt many have."

"How about the water thing you did the day we met?" He asked.

Sakura slowly nodded. "That is the Haruno clan's version of the Suika no jutsu, also known as the Hydrification technique. It is a Hiden technique. The Haruno clan is my father's side. I moved here several years ago, from the hidden Village of the Bloody Mist."

* * *

Sakura groaned and slowly opened her eyes. It was a school day, and she still ended up waking up at five. She had gotten used to waking up a bit later than before, but it still left her with a few hours of nothing before she needed to head out.

There was only a few months until their Genin exams, and Sakura had never felt so bored in her life. All the teachers ever talked about 'clones' and 'henge' and all the kinds things Sakura had known since three and had been able to do since she was four.

Really, she was bored.

She quickly changed and spent an hour sharpening her already shark kunai and shuriken, before sorting through her explosive tags, bombs and poisons. She then went through a few kata and ate breakfast.

Finally, fifteen minutes before school started, she left her house and slowly made her way towards the Academy.

The class quietened down the moment she slipped into the Academy. They glanced uncertainly at her before slowly going back into their conversations. Hinata shyly approached her. "G-Good morning, Sakura-san."

Sakura offered her a small smile. "Good morning, Hinata-san." Hinata blushed, and looked down at the floor, twisting her hands into her shirt.

* * *

_A gasp of pain echoed through the isolated part of the playground. Sakura watched as the girl she recognized as the Hyuga Heiress was shoved onto the floor. The five children surrounding her laughed out as Hinata bit her lip._

_Hinata slowly looked up at her tormentors and the children laughed even harder. _

_Sakura was taken back by the amount of concealed determination in her white eyes. Had she not spent her life learning to read people, she would have easily missed it. _

_Had she mentioned that she liked bravery?_

_Sakura slowly slipped out of her hiding place, and stood behind the five children, who didn't notice. However, Hinata did, and her eyes widened. The children slowly turned around. Sakura was not known for interacting with people outside Sasuke, Naruto and Shikamaru. It wasn't everyday you found her standing behind you. _

_They were gone before you could say 'Pinky', leaving Hinata behind. They stopped at the edge of the field and watched, fear laced in their gazes. _

_Sakura slowly reached out a hand and Hinata flinched. Sakura didn't hesitate, and stopped her hand just in front of Hinata's face. "When someone offers you their hand, you take it." She said._

_Hinata remembered the time Sasuke had said the same thing to the girl and she felt a pulse of pride swell up. Sakura seemed to take what her friends said very seriously, and she felt happy that she was sharing something with someone like her. _

_Hinata slowly took her hand and Sakura pulled her up._

_It is said that those who are shunned can come back stronger. Those who smile the brightest had suffered the most. They know the most pain, and yet, they aim to go forward._

* * *

Sakura took her usual seat and nodded a greeting to Sasuke, Naruto and Shikamaru. At the beginning of the new term, Iruka had said that they could switch seats. Hinata now sat beside Shikamaru, but other than that, they hadn't moves. Shikamaru and Sasuke had stayed because as long as Sakura was around, they weren't bothered. Naruto had stayed because Sasuke and Sakura were staying.

Naruto began blabbing on about how he was going to be Hokage again. Sakura sigh and tuned him out.

Become Hokage...

Surpass Itachi...

Be acknowledged for who they were...

What was her goal?

She turned to look at Shikamaru. Now that she thought about it, she didn't know Shikamaru's dream either. Maybe dreams were too troublesome for him.

Sakura didn't like dreams. A dream was something one hoped to achieve. She didn't like the sound of a fifty fifty chance.

She broke out of her thoughts when Naruto grabbed her arm. "After class, we will meet up in the gym for some physical training." Iruka was saying. The morning class must have ended.

Sakura stood up and made her way out of class. She ld the way towards the playground and sat down a the foot of a tree. Hinata sat beside her and Naruto sat opposite them. Shikamaru lay down and Sasuke took a seat beside Naruto.

"This is boring." Sakura sighed. She yawned, lifting her arms above her head for a stretch.

"W-well, we'll be Genin soon, right?" Hinata said. Sakura saw that flash of determination again, and she softly smiled.

"Yes."

"Well, who knows about Dobe." Sasuke scoffed.

Naruto whirled around. "What was that?"

They started their usual cycle of verbal insults, which slowly led to a physical fight. By the time break had ended, they were both covered in scratches, bruises and dirt.

* * *

When Hinata hesitantly entered the gym, several of the children moved towards her.

"Hey, st-" One of them began, only to stop mid sentence.

Sakura stepped in behind Hinata. Though they were around the same height, the pinkette seemed like she was looming protectively over the Hyuga Heiress.

Sasuke and Naruto each appeared on either side of Sakura, and the children instantly backed off.

Hinata sigh and sat down at the back with Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto.

"I wonder what we're doing today." Naruto wondered out loud.

"Something to do with battle, hopefully." Sakura said.

Iruka appeared a few minutes later.

"Today, we are going to work on our taijutsu."

Sakura grinned, and even her friends shuffled away.

* * *

"Nara Shikamaru."

Shikamaru sigh and stood up. He stuffed his hands into his pocket and slowly made his way towards the door.

"Do well." Sakura muttered. She wasn't one to depend on luck.

Shikamaru nodded. "You too."

It was the day of the Genin exams and Sakura was bored out of her mind. Her inner wouldn't stop bugging her and she was ready to jump out of the window.

She leaned back and turned to Sasuke. "Wake me when it is my turn."

It only seemed like a few minutes later when Sasuke shook her awake. "It's your turn." She groaned and slowly got to her feet.

"Pass, okay?"

Sakura shrug. "Course."

* * *

The exam was so easy to the point Sakura wanted to bash her head against a wall, leave a huge crack on it, and laugh at it's pain.

She had been asked to perform the bunshin technique and the henge technique, and then had been given her hitai-ate along with the 'you pass'. A few years back in Kiri, she would have had to fight to death!

Her blood began to boil at the thought. A fight to the death, just to become ninja. That was how Kirigakure narrowed down their shinobi to little in numbers, but great in the strength of each individual.

She inwardly scowled and stepped out of the room to where everyone was waiting. Sasuke darted over to her. "You passed." He said. Sakura nodded. Though it had been boring, there was one good thing about becoming Genin. She would no longer have to spend any time with the Chunin Academy instructors, whom all clearly didn't like her. Her previous village roots didn't help her in her case.

"I-I'm, worried about Naruto-kun." Hinata whispered.

Sasuke nodded, actually looking concerned.

The annoyed yell that came from the other room confirmed it.

However, Sakura was deep in thought. Something was nagging her, but she couldn't grasp it.

* * *

She stepped through the forest, towards where she felt Naruto's chakra.

She stepped out of the shadows in time to see Naruto roll up a scroll. She managed to catch a few words and her eyes widened.

Without thinking, she jumped at him. "Naruto!"

Naruto looked up, his eyes wide. "Sa-sakura-chan?" He asked.

Sakura landed in front of him, her eyes blazing with anger. "What do you think you are doing?" She snapped.

Naruto slowly held up the scroll and Sakura grabbed it from him. "Shinobi are out looking for you! Do you know what you've done?"

Naruto blinked. Sakura confirmed in her mind that no, he didn't know.

A chakra signal flared to life somewhere to her right and there was a rustle. Iruka stepped out of the shadows.

"It's-" Iruka stopped when he caught sight of Sakura and Naruto. Iruka had not been pleased when he had been woken up in the middle of the night and being told that Naruto had stolen a scroll containing forbidden seals.

"Caught me already, huh? Not bad. You're quick sensei; I only had time to learn this one really cool technique." Naruto stated, momentarily forgetting Sakura.

Iruka looked at Naruto, then turned to Sakura, who stood there, unmoving. He could see the missing scroll in her hand and a surge of mistrust and suspicion flashed through him. He knew that Naruto adored and worshiped Sakura. She could have easily convinced him to steal the scroll for her.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei. I'm going to show you this amazing jutsu and you're gonna have to let me graduate, and then everything will be okay. That's the way it works, right? Anyone who learns a jutsu from this scroll passes, right?" Naruto asked.

"Where did you hear that?" Iruka slowly asked.

"Mizuki-sensei told me about it. Believe it!" Naruto said. "He told me where to find the scroll…"

_Mizuki?_ Iruka's mind began to slowly process things, but they were quickly interrupted.

A barrage of kunai flung themselves at Naruto and Iruka. Iruka managed to push Naruto out of the way, but didn't have time to dodge and a kunai pierced him through the leg while several others pinned him to something behind him.

"I see you found our little hideout." Mizuki said, amusement laced in his voice.

* * *

**Here's chapter seventeen. How was that? The second half is mostly taken from the manga/anime (We don't know if this is true, as our friend told us about it). **

**Tell us, okay?**

**Any pairings you would like to see? Leave us a review or a PM and we'll see what we can do.**

**Read and Review!**


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